Playing The First Fiddle
by RandleGreaserGirl
Summary: Pony falls ill, but no doctor can seem to figure out the problem. Soon they find out this isn't something medicine or surgery can fix. The gang tries all they can to defeat this invisible force taking over the youngest member. (Story off an old account that was titled Haunted-retyping).
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a story off an old account I had, it was titled Haunted. I didn't finish it, so I'm re-writing it on this account (for the life of me, I can't figure out the login for the old one). So bear with me on that, I hope you all enjoy the story.

It started off as an ordinary day. Ponyboy Curtis woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school. He had felt fine until science class came along. It was his third class and after that he had lunch. He didn't eat at lunch though, he felt rather sick. He was feeling worse as the day went on. He was able to tolerate it most of the day, but when school let out, he was ready to get out of there. Pony thought walking home in the fresh air would help, but it didn't. The second he got home, he rushed to the bathroom to try to vomit anything, but nothing came out.

"Probably the flu," Pony mumbled to himself, "And wouldn't that be just great." He got himself a glass of water. While he still had some strength, he figured he'd start making himself some soup. Track was going to be starting soon, so Pony was not in the mood to be sick. That would be a major setback in his competing. Pony sat on the couch with his soup and water when Soda walked in.

"Hey Pony, what are you doing?" Soda asked kicking his shoes off across the living room.

"I don't feel too good," Pony said sipping some soup.

Soda placed a hand on Pony's cheek, "Wow you are freezing." Soda picked up a blanket off the floor and wrapped Pony in it. "I can't even tell if you have a fever you're so cold. You will have to take a hot bath when you're done eating."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Pony agreed, although there wasn't much motivation to take a bath. He felt his strength slowly getting lower and lower.

"When did you start feeling sick?" Soda asked.

"Before lunch, I was in science class and..." Pony trailed off.

"What?" Soda asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think..." Pony began, "I think I know what may have happened."

"What's that?" Soda asked walking into the kitchen, "I wonder if we have any cold medicine in the cabinet."

"Well we were doing experiments, and I was being curious with all the mixes and trying things out on my own," Pony explained.

"Yeah?" Soda asked walking back in and sitting in the armchair, "No medicine buddy, Darry will have to go to the store later. So was it anything dangerous?"

"No," Pony shook his head, "I don't know, maybe I whiffed something too much and am just feeling off now. I thought the fresh air would help when I walked home, but it didn't really."

"Just sleep it off tonight and I'm sure you will be fine in the morning."

When he got home from work, Darry walked in to the smell of chicken and potatoes. He got a little nervous, considering one brother didn't really know how to cook and the other brother used cooking as experimenting opportunities. He peered into the kitchen, surprised that it actually smelled nice. "Hey," Darry greeted Soda, "You're cooking?"

Soda nodded, "Just getting dinner ready as soon as I can."

"Why?" Darry asked, "Where's Pony?"

"He's taking a bath. He doesn't feel well, so I made dinner so he could eat and go to bed. Speaking of, you need to go to the store and get some medicine. We are out."

"Is it that bad?" Darry asked.

Soda shrugged, "I really don't know. It was kind of weird actually. He didn't have a fever, I think he didn't anyway. He was just freezing cold. So I had him go take a hot bath. But I've gone to check on him twice now and when the water got cooler, he would be freezing again so I changed out the water."

Darry went to the cabinet, "I'm going to check his temperature."

Upstairs, Darry knocked on the bathroom door and walked in. Pony was in his swimming trunks in a water-filled tub. He held his legs close to him and his face looked pale. "Hey little buddy. Soda said you weren't doing well. How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Pony simply said.

"Let me check your temperature," Darry said placing the thermometer in Pony's mouth. He placed his hand on Pony's cheek and forehead, "Wow you are cold." When the thermometer beeped, Darry removed it and read it. He just stared at it though.

"What does it say?" Pony asked.

"It says ninety-six," Darry said tapping at it.

"Is that bad?" Pony asked.

Darry just shrugged and shook his head, "This thing is old. I should get a new one when I go get medicine. Why don't you get out and get into some thick clothes to keep you warm."

He left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. At the top of the stairs he continued to look at the thermometer. Sure Pony felt cold, but that couldn't be accurate.

"Was there a fever?" Soda asked as Darry returned to the kitchen.

"It said ninety-six," Darry said placing the thermometer back in the cabinet.

"Ninety-six?" Soda repeated, "That's rather low ain't it?"

Darry nodded, "I'm going to get a new one, I think it's too old. If he feels this bad tomorrow I'll take him to the doctor."

"No, I have the day off, I can take him," Soda offered.

"Well," Darry thought for a minute. They really couldn't afford to ever miss work. "Alright, you take him." Darry peered into the living room as Pony placed himself on the couch. He laid down and hugged himself with his legs bent to his chest. Pony was wearing one of Darry's over-sized hoodies with a pair of his own sweats. "Pony," Darry walked in, "Why don't you wear one of your sweaters so it's closer to your skin to keep you warm."

"No, I'm okay," Pony said. Darry let it go and went upstairs. He grabbed a pillow and blanket and brought it to the couch. He situated the pillow and helped Pony get comfortable.

Pony ended up falling asleep on the couch, so Darry and Soda ate dinner without him. It was a quiet evening, as they didn't want to disturb Pony's slumber. They kept expecting him to start sweating from the hoodie and blanket, but he stayed cold and pale. Darry was trying not to seem worried, so Soda wouldn't worry, but Darry did feel puzzled.

* * *

In the middle of the night Soda awoke and needed some water. He went downstairs and quietly walked past the couch where Pony slept. The older two couldn't get Pony to move up to the bed, so they left him alone. After getting himself some water, Soda curiously felt Pony's face. It was still ice cold. Soda shook his head. He was getting frustrated over this chill Pony was having and couldn't seem to shake off. Soda took the blanket off Pony already had, thinking he would bring down the comforter from the bed.

As he looked down at his little brother, Soda noticed something. Pony seemed...thicker. Soda pressed slightly on Darry's hoodie. He felt thicker. "What the hell?" Soda said to himself. He peeked inside the hoodie. Pony was wearing a second hoodie under Darry's extra-large hoodie on him. Soda looked around. None of the windows were open. There wasn't a fan going. Soda felt stuck in whether or not to remove one of the hoodies. It seemed to be too much, but he still felt cold.

Soda went upstairs and shook Darry awake. "Soda? What's going on?" Darry rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Can you come downstairs?" Soda asked. Darry lifted the sheets off of him and followed Soda down to the living room.

"What's wrong?" Darry asked.

"Look," Soda said pulling on the hoodie, "He put another one on. He still had this blanket on too. He's still freezing to the touch. There isn't any sweat on him or anything."

Darry scratched his head, "Okay, early in the morning, you are taking him straight to the doctor's. Something isn't right at all."

Soda nodded in agreement, "Are you sure you don't want to take him to the hospital right now?"

"No, he's sleeping at least. He seems comfortable. I'd rather him get as much rest as he can. Maybe that's what he needs. It's just too bizarre to ignore though."

"I was going to switch this blanket for the comforter on our bed. That was before I found the extra hoodie though. Do you think I should?"

Darry sighed, "I really don't want to risk overheating him. No, let's just get back to bed."

The older brothers went back to their beds. Neither of them were getting any sleep though. They both worried about Pony deeply, unsure of what was going on or how to fix it. If it was a flu-type thing, they were confused what kind it was and the route to go for it. Every hour or so, Darry would sneak down to feel Pony, and each time he was still freezing. Darry almost believed he was getting colder each time. He wish he could take Pony to the doctor's, but he couldn't risk missing a day of work without knowing the severity. Even if it turned out to be serious, he'd still have to work for upcoming bills. He prayed the rest of the night, hoping for the best.


	2. Chapter 2

Darry arrived home from work earlier than usual. He got as much work done as he could in a short amount of time to get home to his little brother. His mind was distracted all day, and he wondered what the doctor had to say. He wished he could have been there, as he started hoping Soda didn't forget anything the doctor may have said. Sometimes Soda could forget things, but Darry hoped this was bothering Soda's mind enough to pay attention. He also wondered if mom and dad always had them on their minds when someone was sick, no matter how little or big it was. It was certainly a stressful thing to think about and want desperate answers for. At home, Soda was in the kitchen heating up more soup, leaving Darry unsure the severity of Pony's condition.

"Hey," Darry greeted in the kitchen, "How was the doctor?"

Soda shrugged, "He didn't know what was really wrong. Just said to keep him warm until his temperature is better. He was a little baffled too, but not freaking out about it, you know?"

"What was the temperature there?"

"Ninety-six," Soda said pouring the soup into a bowl, "Doctor didn't seem too worried about it though. He said it's only two degrees below normal, so to just keep warming him up."

"Where is he now?" Darry asked, slightly frustrated they didn't get an answer past what they were already doing, "Did he say anything about medicine?"

"No. There isn't anything to give medicine to. There's no such thing as a freezing-reliever. He's in the bathtub right now. You realize I change that water a lot more than I should have to," Soda commented.

"What do you mean?" Darry asked, confused.

"It seems to get cold way too quick, even faster than last night. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it does seem weird. Maybe I just don't remember what it's like to take a bath," Soda said, trying to convince himself more than anything.

Darry shrugged it off, unsure of how to answer, and left the kitchen. He went upstairs to check on Ponyboy. Walking into the bathroom, he saw Pony in the same position as the day before. He was hunched over and hugging his knees to himself.

"How are you feeling?" Darry asked, hating to see him like that. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Cold," Pony said through slight quivering lips. Darry leaned down and felt the water, instantly pulling it back.

"Damnit, that is freezing. Pony come out of there!" Darry snapped. He grabbed Pony by his arms and helped him out. He wrapped a towel around his little brother. "Go get some clothes on right now." Pony let his head hang as he began walking. Darry felt bad, he didn't mean to snap towards Pony just because he was frustrated. "Hey Pony, do you need help?"

"No," Pony said pulling the towel tighter, "I'll be okay."

"Okay, Soda has soup ready for you downstairs." When Pony left the bathroom, Darry leaned back over to pull the bathtub plug. His arm almost twitched back again, as he was expecting the freezing temperature, but was greeted by a warm, decent temperature instead. "Huh," Darry said to himself as he ran his hand all around the water, "That's...kind of odd." He pulled the plug and tried shaking the situation off. It seemed more questions were being added to his list as he got no answers to previous ones.

As Darry got halfway down the stairs, Soda met with him. "There is something else I haven't told you yet. Well, I really just forgot to, I didn't try to hide it. Anyway, I brought it up to the doctor as I remembered it, but it didn't turn into anything. You should know though."

"What is it?" Darry asked.

"Pony was messing with some mixing and chemicals in his science class yesterday, he was whiffing at them and everything. He told the doctor what was mixed and everything, but the doctor said that has nothing to do with his symptoms. He said maybe it'd give him a headache or make him a little dizzy at that moment, but nothing to this extent," Soda explained.

Darry slowly nodded, "Do you think we should let him sleep in the bed tonight and you take the couch? Or I'll even take the couch."

Soda shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me. You can ask if he wants the bed or likes the couch."

The brothers began going down the rest of the stairs as Darry asked, "Has he thrown up or anything?"

Soda shook his head, "He isn't even congested or have a sore throat. Nothing. He's just cold...literally just cold."

"It just seems so weird," Darry said, "Doesn't it?"

Soda shrugged as they entered the living room. Pony was wrapped in a blanket and in Darry's hoodie again. Darry sat next to him, wrapping his arms around his little brother, hoping his body heat would help even just a little. Soda took a seat in the armchair, not moving his eyes from them. The three brothers sat in silence, just listening to the cartoons run across the TV, when Steve Randle and Two-Bit Mathews walked in.

"Hello Curtis family!" Two-Bit belted, as usual.

"Hey, hey, hey," Darry said, "Calm down there boys."

"What's wrong with him?" Two-Bit asked.

"Pony's really sick," Soda said.

"We don't really know what's wrong, but he's definitely sick," Darry added in.

"Well then why don't you come out with us Soda?" Steve offered.

Soda shrugged, "I don't know. I should probably help out here."

"Soda you took care of him all day and took him to the doctor's. You've helped enough. I'll get him ready for bed." Soda looked at his little brother. He had a gaunt look on his face He was pale, his eyes were dark, and he just had this blank stare.

"I don't know Dar. It'd be one thing if he had a cold or some bug that we know about, but we have no idea what is going on and that's worrying me."

"It worries me too, little buddy, but as of right now I don't think we're getting any answers. We just have to get him rest," Darry said, "I'll be fine helping him out. You would just be spending tonight in that chair anyway."

"Alright," Soda gave in, "I won't be gone long."

"Have a good night," Steve said as the three boys turned to walk out the door.

"Feel better Pony," Two-Bit said.

The three boys walked down the driveway and got into Steve's car.

"Just let us know when you want to come back home," Steve said starting his car, "We know you'll worry."

"He looks really off," Two-Bit commented.

"Yeah he really does, what's up with him?" Steve asked.

Soda sighed, "We really don't know. He doesn't have a cold or anything like that. He is just freezing."

"What do you mean?" Two-Bit asked, "Like the chills?"

"No, like literally freezing. His skin is so cold and nothing is warming him up. It is the weirdest thing. The doctor couldn't give us any answers."

"Well," Two-Bit began unsure of what to say, "Let's just go out for some fun. Get your mind off everything tonight."

"Sounds good," Soda agreed. As much as he wanted to be by Pony's side, he'd try to take advantage of a few hours away.

* * *

After a while of watching TV, Darry began cleaning the kitchen. He got the dishes washed, the table cleaned off, and everything wiped up. He moved upstairs and washed out the tub and sink, not wanting anyone else to get sick. He vacuumed upstairs and the living room. Darry spent a lot of time cleaning, feeling a little on edge of this mystery virus Pony had and how ugly it could get. After getting as much of the house as clean as he could, Darry took out the thermometer and placed it in Pony's mouth. Pony looked exhausted and Darry wanted to get him to sleep soon. Once the thermometer was finished, Darry removed it. He groaned out loud, just wanting something to make sense.

"This can't be right," Darry mumbled.

"What?" Pony asked quietly.

"Ninety-five," Darry sighed walking back into the kitchen. Even though he wasn't uncomfortable, Darry turned up the heater in the house.

"Darry," Pony said watching his brother, "It's too expensive to use the heater."

"A doctor's visit is expensive. A hospital trip is expensive. Antibiotics are expensive. Everything will be, but I don't care. There is something really wrong and I'll do whatever to fix it," Darry answered.

"But..."

"No buts. Now where are you comfortable sleeping? In bed or the couch?"

Pony yawned, "I really don't want to move. I just want to stay here."

Darry nodded, "I'll turn the TV off so you can sleep then."

"No," Pony said, "It helps to fall asleep to sound."

"Alright," Darry took a seat in the armchair, "I'll wait until you fall asleep then." Darry was tired from the cleaning he had done. He propped his feet on the coffee table and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

* * *

A few hours passed and Steve drove Soda back home. Two-Bit decided to stay in town and would find his own way home. Steve glanced at his best friend during the ride. He felt himself get nervous at Soda's silence.

"You sure are worried, huh?" Steve asked.

Soda nodded as he stared out the passenger window. "We just have no idea what this is. We take him to an expert, someone who is suppose to tell you what is wrong, and he couldn't."

"Was the doctor worried?"

Soda shook his head, "Not terribly worried. He just said keep Pony warm."

"Well, if the doctor ain't rushing him to the hospital, then maybe there isn't anything to worry about, you know?"

"Its hard not to worry though. Pony is obviously not himself. He feels off. We have no way to fight it either. There's no medicine to bother giving him, because he doesn't have any of that stuff wrong with him. I just don't know what to do, Steve. I don't know how to not worry," Soda ran his hand through his hair.

"I know bud. The kid is tough. He'll be just fine." Steve pulled up to the sidewalk by the Curtis house. "Just keep your head up, alright? I'll come in with you to check on him."

"You don't have to," Soda said, "I don't want to risk you catching anything."

"I ain't worried about it," Steve opened the driver's door and followed Soda towards the house. As they walked inside, they found Pony asleep on the couch and Darry asleep in the armchair. "Damn that can't be comfortable," Steve commented towards Darry, "Want me to bring Pony upstairs?"

"No, I'd rather let him just sleep," Soda said beginning to shake Darry, "Darry, wake up."

Darry stirred slightly and slowly lifted his head, "Oh shit. My neck."

"I'm home Darry," Soda said, "Here, I'll rub your neck."

Darry groaned as Soda began his massage, "How was it tonight?"

"Fine," Soda said putting pressure against Darry's stiff neck, "We just grabbed a bite to eat and walked around."

"Nice. Well, I'm ready to get to bed," Darry slowly stood up from the armchair, cracking every part of his body.

"Me too," Soda agreed, "You want to crash here Steve?"

Steve shook his head, "I'll head home. I'll try to check in tomorrow."

"Alright, thanks Steve," Soda waved as Steve left the house, "Is he sleeping down here?"

"He wants to," Darry yawned and turned off the TV, "Let's get upstairs."

Soda took a seat on the edge of the couch and caressed Pony's hair, "Feel better little buddy. I love you."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning was rather terrifying to Darry. He made his way downstairs, but didn't find Ponyboy on the couch. He wasn't in the bedroom with Soda either. He wasn't in either bathrooms. Darry nearly went into a panic. "Ponyboy!" he called out throughout the house, but there was no answer. Darry entered the kitchen and peered out the backdoor. There he was. His little brother was standing in the middle of the backyard. His back was towards the door. He just stood there and stared out into the distance. There was no shirt on him, just a pair of sweats. Darry stepped out the door and tried looking for what could be outside to stare at, but saw nothing. In fact, there was a fog only getting thicker. There couldn't have been a sunrise to be able to see. Darry hurried down the porch and grabbed Pony by the shoulders.

"Ponyboy are you crazy?" Pony continued to stare, practically looking through his oldest brother. Darry could barely hold onto Pony from how cold his skin felt, but he needed to get him inside. "Pony, come on, let's get inside now." Pony wouldn't move. His skin was so pale, it was beginning to look purple. He almost looked lifeless. Darry was worrying how long Pony had been standing like this. He was getting ready to just drag him inside.

"Pony!" Darry barked with one last attempt. This time, Pony turned his head slightly and looked at Darry, and then looked around himself.

"What..." Pony began, "What am I doing out here?" Darry's stomach turned when Pony asked that. He didn't know how or why he was out there in the cold weather. His expression made Darry even more upset with how confused he was.

"I found you out here Pony," Darry said, "Come on you're freezing, let's get inside." The brothers walked inside and Darry immediately covered Pony with a blanket. "Sit on the couch. I'm going to fill up the tub. Where did you put your shirt and hoodies?"

Pony looked around, confusion filling his face more, "I'm...I'm not sure..." Darry shook it off and just went upstairs to run the bath. He was just as confused as his little brother. Pony couldn't seem to remember what had happened in the last...however long it had been since Pony went outside.

Darry's second question was soon answered though. He flipped on the light switch to the bathroom and jumped. The bathtub was completely filled with water. Pony's shirt, sweater, and Darry's hoodie were all soaking in the tub. "Oh my God," Darry mumbled. He had no idea what to think of this. "How did I not hear him do this?"

"Good morning Darry," Soda said walking into the bathroom, "How's...what the hell happened here? Is the washing machine broken?"

"I have no idea what happened," Darry shook his head, "Here, just get these downstairs in the dryer. I have to refill this for Pony."

"Is he colder?" Soda asked, trying to carefully ring out the wet clothes over the tub.

"I found him outside this morning, but he doesn't remember going out there," Darry replied, "He didn't know where his clothes were either."

"That's...weird. Maybe he slept walk," Soda exclaimed carrying the clothes out of the bathroom.

Darry followed Soda downstairs. "Maybe he did," Darry said trying to convince himself of that possibility.

"What is that?" Pony asked as he watched his older brothers carry the wet clothes.

Darry took a deep breath as he explained, "I found those in the tub. Don't worry about it though, just come upstairs for a bath."

"I didn't do that to the clothes, I swear," Pony said walking up the stairs with Darry, "At least not on purpose. If I did do it sleepwalking, I'm sorry."

"I know, it's okay buddy. Don't worry about it," Darry said helping his little brother into the water. Curiously, Darry waited a few minutes while Pony sat there.

"What?" Pony asked.

"Just going to check something," Darry answered. He waited another minute before bending over to feel the bath water. It was ice cold again. "This is so bizarre," Darry commented.

"What is?" Pony asked looking around the water.

"The water turns so cold so fast. No matter how hot I make it before you get in. Don't you notice the temperature change suddenly?"

Pony looked up at his older brother with sunken eyes, "No, it's never hot to begin with. It starts freezing and stays that way."

"Really?" Darry asked feeling his heart sink. There was something seriously wrong with Ponyboy. What scared Darry was the unknown of it all.

"What does that mean? What does all of this mean?" Pony asked. Darry could feel the frustration rising in both of them.

He just shook his head in response, "I don't know little buddy. I really don't know." He stood up and walked out of the bathroom. "I'll be right back." Darry found Soda waiting in the hallway.

"Is it true? What I just heard?" Soda asked.

Darry nodded, "I just don't get it. It can't be the water. It just doesn't happen that way."

Soda nearly shook. He was scared for his little brother. He didn't know what to do to help Ponyboy. "What do we do now?"

"I...I don't know," Darry replied, "Just give it some time I suppose and see what happens."

* * *

Darry decided to run to the store. He was unsure what he was going to get, but he figured maybe he could run into some supplies. He wasn't comfortable enough to ask anyone in the store for advice, because he was barely comprehending what was going on. He didn't want to sound crazy to anyone.

Ponyboy was asleep in bed. Soda took advantage of that extra time to clean the bedroom since Pony seemed out as a light. He got dirty clothes in a basket, clean clothes put away, dishes downstairs, the dresser wiped down and organized. While Soda organized the small desk Pony had next to the bed, he noticed the red notebook in the corner. It was the notebook Pony drew in from time to time. Soda didn't look in it much, but with the house being quiet, he got curious to look inside. He sat in the chair and began flipping through the pages. There were light sketches of everyone in the gang. Soda could really see the talent Pony had, and the patience. There were sketches of horses and dogs. There were sketches of scenery, like sunsets, trees, the park, and a sporting event. There was even a drawing of a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs that Pony had labeled "Soda's purple creation."

Soda grinned at all the drawings Pony had, until he got to one page. It was getting near the end of the notebook when he found a page that made him look twice, trying to figure out what he was looking at. There was a dark sketch of horses. Not like his regular horses though. They were near the bottom of the page. They were colored completely black, and some red shading around them. They were flat on the ground. They looked dead.

Feeling uneasy, Soda turned the page and found a similar drawing. There were birds at the bottom of the page. Their heads lay flat, their beaks were partially opened, and their wings spread out. They appeared dead too.

Soda continued to look closer at the picture when a thud made him jump. Turning around, he looked for the source. He didn't see anything right away. As he stood up though, he saw it on the other side of the bed. Some books had fallen over and were laying on the ground.

* * *

Darry walked into the house, finding Soda on the couch, biting at his fingernail. "You okay?" Darry asked carrying a bag in each hand

Soda looked up, "Yeah. Did you find anything?"

Darry shrugged, "Not really. I grabbed some more medicine, because that's all I could think of. Got some groceries we needed too."

"Medicine is something at least," Soda stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans, "Um, I need to show you something."

"What?" Darry asked carrying the bags into the kitchen. Soda picked up the notebook he had on the couch and followed him. He let out a breath, unsure how Darry was going to respond. It was disturbing Soda what he had seen in the notebook. It was bothering him trying to figure out what Pony could have possibly been thinking to draw dead animals.

"You should see this," Soda held the notebook out. Darry grabbed it and began flipping through the pages. "Go towards the back." Darry stopped as he got to the page Soda was referring to. He didn't say anything. He just stared. Slowly turning the page, Darry found the next page with the birds. He stared again, without a spoken word. "This is bad...right?" Soda asked.

Darry closed the notebook, shaking his head, "I don't know. Just go put it back for now."

"But Darry..."

"Soda, I don't really know what to think of it right now. He could have drawn those awhile ago, on a bad day or something," Darry turned towards the bags on the counter.

Soda nodded, taking the notebook back, "Alright. While I was looking through it though, the books fell over in our room."

"What do you mean?" Darry asked taking some groceries out of the bags.

"I was at the desk on Pony's side of the bed, looking through the notebook. The books, the ones that are on the dresser on my side of the bed, had fallen over. Like four of them. I have no idea how though," Soda explained, gripping the notebook tight, "Darry, it was just really weird. I'm just getting shaken up by this."

"I know little buddy, I am too. I mean, when I got up this morning and just found him outside," Darry's eyes just stared into the wall, going back to what he had seen that morning of Ponyboy.

"Maybe we should take him to someone?"

"To who?" Darry asked, "Like a shrink?"

"I don't know," Soda sat back into a kitchen chair, "I just feel lost right now Dar. I'm really worried about him."

"I am too," Darry admitted, "Maybe he's just delirious. We can only hope sleep is doing him some good right now. Just put that notebook away, alright?"

Soda nodded and walked back upstairs. He approached the bedroom door, and got a weird feeling up his spine. It was keeping him from walking into the room. He was feeling scared. "Come on Soda," he said to himself, "Your little brother's in there. You're a greaser for God's sake. Those books could have fallen for any reason. Any reason at all." He ran a hand over his face, clearly not able to convince himself.

Placing his hand on the knob, he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned the cold knob. He pushed the door open and saw his little brother still asleep. "Damn, you're so white," Soda muttered. There was an off feeling in the room. It made his stomach turn. It made his body ache. He felt his feet move fast as he hurried over and placed the notebook on the desk. As soon as his fingers slipped off, he turned and rushed out of the room. He got downstairs and felt the eerie feeling lift immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why don't you guys take him back to the doctors?" Two-Bit asked from the backseat of Steve's car.

"Well, it's not like anything has changed. He's still freezing and feeling off. The sleepwalking thing though was just really freaky," Soda commented sitting in the passenger seat.

"When he was younger though, he use to sleepwalk a lot," Steve said, "He has a wild imagination."

"I know, but this was really different."

It was the next evening, and Soda had joined Steve, Two-Bit, and Dally for a drive around town. They had nothing planned, but were looking for some fun and distraction. Johnny had stayed back to give Ponyboy some company. Soda still couldn't help to feel guilty when he'd be gone from home. Darry almost preferred Soda gone, as him pacing around trying to figure out what to do was driving Darry crazy.

"He put his clothes in a bathtub full of water and then just stood outside?" Dally asked.

"Yeah, Darry found him standing out in the backyard yesterday morning. We had no idea how long he had been out there," Soda said rubbing his eyes, "I didn't sleep at all, because I wanted to catch him in case he slept walk again. I have no idea what he could have been dreaming about that caused it."

"It doesn't have to be something he was dreaming about," Two-Bit said, "It just happens. My little sister slept walk once, but what she did had nothing to do with what she remembered dreaming about."

"Okay, but the tub thing is still really weird," Soda said, "Darry's right, okay? Water temperature does not just change that fast. He tried giving Pony a bath again last night and I stuck my hand in, and as soon as Pony stepped in the heat just went away. It scared me something awful. I swear he is always blue or purple or pale now. He doesn't look like himself, or like anyone should look."

"Can't the doctors put him in the hospital or something?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, they've got to have something to help with body heat," Two-Bit added in.

Soda shrugged, "They didn't seem to want to rush him in. It doesn't seem to be an emergency. We just have to give him time and see if anything changes."

"Alright, let's go to the dingo. Enough of this talk, we came out for fun, so let's do that," Dally said.

At the dingo, Two-Bit and Dally were hitting on a few greaser girls while Soda and Steve were splitting some fries at a table. Watching his friends make fools of themselves to embarrass girls was making Soda smile. It made him feel a little better about being out. His mind was still full of those drawings he had found in Pony's notebook. They were bothering him, even if Darry was trying to shrug it off. "Steve, I found something...kind of freaky yesterday too."

"What?" Steve asked while taking a sip of his Coke.

"I was looking through Ponyboy's notebook while he napped. He had these drawings," Soda swirled a fry around in a pile of ketchup, "They were very disturbing."

"How? What were they?"

"They were dead animals," Soda gulped.

"What do you mean?"

"He drew these bloodied up horses that were just at the bottom of the page, they were dead. And on another page he drew dead birds. I showed them to Darry, but he was trying to not freak out over them. He said maybe Pony drew them on a bad day or something like that."

"You don't believe that though?" Steve asked, pulling the fry out of Soda's hand, "I think it has enough ketchup on it."

Soda smirked as he grabbed the fry and took a bite, "I don't know if I believe it. I just don't see Pony doing anything that extreme from a bad day. It was sickening. He normally draws animals in a more majestic way. Even on his worst days, he goes on walks or something."

"Maybe it really was something he drew on another day. It was just bad timing you found out while he's sick. Did you ask Pony about them?"

"No, Darry doesn't want to bother him with it. I don't want to put Pony in that position right now either."

"Then just let go of it for now. That's not what you need to be focusing on."

"Yeah maybe. It's all just freaking me out a little, Steve," Soda shook his head.

"Hey, don't sweat it man," Steve put an arm around Soda's shoulders, "I bet he'll be better in the next couple days, and you guys have been worrying over nothing."

* * *

Back at the house, Johnny and Pony sat in the living room watching TV. Darry was upstairs making phone call after phone call to try and figure out something, anything new to try. What they were doing now was obviously not enough, and he was desperate for even the slightest explanation. Pony and Johnny could hear him talking to the family doctor, getting advice from a nurse at the hospital, and even distant family members.

"Here you go," Johnny said handing Ponyboy a cup of hot chocolate.

"Thanks," Pony said attempting to let his hands soak in the heat, but it felt as though his body was rejecting the heat anyway. He began sipping his hot chocolate slowly. Expecting it to slightly burn on the tip of his tongue, like anyone's first sip of hot liquid would do, Pony was shocked to find it tasting closer to chocolate milk. "God, this is driving me nuts," he exclaimed setting his cup down and rubbing at his eyes in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked.

"The hot chocolate doesn't even taste hot. It's like my body is getting rid of all heating sources and making it cold," Pony said pulling the blankets tighter around him.

"That is crazy. It's so hot in this house, I don't understand how you're so cold," Johnny said feeling beads of sweat wanting to slide from his hair.

"Darry keeps turning up the heat slightly to try and help, but no matter what we do I stay cold."

"I can tell, your face looks so white, and even purple," Johnny said concerned for his best friend.

"I feel bad," Pony admitted, "He's wasting so much money to turn up the heat like this."

"It's for a good reason though," Johnny assured him. While continuing to listen to the television, Darry walked downstairs.

"Find out anything?" Pony asked with slight desperation in his voice.

Darry sighed, "No, I'm sorry. It's just a big mystery. The good news is no one seems to be worried sick over it. No one is saying you're in serious danger or need some big treatment."

Pony groaned, "I hate just waiting this out though."

Darry took a seat on the couch, "Same buddy. We just have to try our best to keep you comfortable."

* * *

The four greasers arrived back late. The house was dark and quiet, so they walked in slowly. Johnny was passed out in the armchair, but no sign of Ponyboy or Darry. "Maybe they're asleep upstairs," Soda said quietly.

"I'll check the kitchen and backyard just in case he slept walk again," Two-Bit said. Dally followed Two-Bit into the kitchen while Steve went upstairs with Soda.

Two-Bit flicked on the kitchen lights while Dally opened the backdoor. "He ain't out there," Dally said.

"Kitchen looks okay," Two-Bit shrugged, "Maybe he is asleep upstairs with Darry."

Upstairs, Soda and Steve didn't find Pony in his bed. "Oh no," Soda said, "Where could he have gone now?"

"Don't freak out yet, check Darry's room," Steve said, attempting to keep his best friend level-headed. They turned to leave the room and walked further down the hall. With Soda behind him, Steve slowly opened Darry's bedroom door and peered in. "What the hell," Steve exclaimed.

"What? What's going on? Is he in there?" Soda asked looking over Steve's shoulder. They opened the door wider and just stared into Darry's room. Darry was asleep, but Pony was standing right next to Darry's bed. He was in only a t-shirt and boxers, and was staring down at Darry.

"Guys, he ain't down there," Two-Bit said suddenly, making Soda and Steve jump.

"Shush," Steve said in a low voice. Two-Bit and Dally got next to Steve and Soda.

"What the hell is he doing?" Dally whispered.

No one could answer as they were frozen in their spots. Soda shook himself out of his fear and rushed in. He grabbed Ponyboy to shake him out of another spell again.

"Ponyboy? Are you okay? Do you need something?" Soda asked shakily. There was no response. Pony's eyes were open, not budging to blink. He seemed to be looking right through Soda, unaware he was even there. Fear rose in Soda and the rest of the gang. "Pony? Come on snap out of it. What's wrong?"

Darry stirred in bed and slowly sat up, seeing everyone at the doorway, "What's going on?"

"We found Pony standing there and just looking at you," Steve responded. Darry looked over at Soda trying to wake Pony up.

"We think he was sleepwalking again," Two-Bit added in.

Darry got out of bed and onto the floor, taking over Soda's spot. He began shaking his youngest brother roughly, "Wake up Ponyboy. Come on little buddy wake up."

Soda rubbed his hands together, "Lord almighty he is cold."

"How?" Dally asked, "I'm almost sweating in this house."

"Pony, come on, wake up Pone," Darry said rubbing his little brother's arms. Before anyone could make another move, Pony jerked forward and vomited on the floor, just missing Darry.

"Oh God..." Two-Bit said quietly. Ponyboy looked at the pile of puke on the floor, then looked up at Darry.

"What..." Pony said near tears, "What happened...Did I do that?"

"It's okay, it's okay" Darry said getting up to his feet, "Soda go get something to clean this up." Darry lifted Pony and carried him to the bathroom. "Are you going to get sick anymore?"

Pony shook his head, "I don't think so."

Soda walked back into Darry's bedroom and got on his knees to clean the mess. Steve and Dally walked into the bedroom as Two-Bit joined Darry in the bathroom.

"God what is going on with him?" Dally asked walking over to open the window.

Soda sighed, "I have no idea, but...I am scared."

Steve nodded and slowly admitted, "Me too."

Darry finished cleaning Pony up and helping him change clothes. "I think you should sleep in bed with me tonight."

Pony slowly nodded, "Okay."

"I just want to make sure you stay in bed, alright?"

"Okay."

After Darry got Pony settled in his bed, he met with everyone else downstairs. Johnny sat up in the armchair, awake now. Everyone else was scattered among the floor and couch.

"Is he asleep?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, he's sleeping. I think we got everything settled here now guys," Darry said, "It's late, so I think it's time we all got to bed." Steve got the rest of the gang in his car to bring home. Even though no one was talking about it, they all were slightly shaken by what they had seen that night out of the youngest gang member. After hearing Soda talk about the odd occurrences, and then seeing that, no one had an explanation to calm their own nerves.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Soda was in the kitchen too scared to go back to bed. He was on the floor, leaning against the wall. His legs were pulled up and he was rocking back and forth, hugging his knees. He wanted to believe he was just tired. He wanted to believe exhaustion was just taking over him. What he had just seen moments ago could not have actually happened. It was impossible. He tried to convince himself it didn't actually occur, but he was terrified and unable to talk himself back to reality.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit were going to go to a drag race Tim Sheppard had invited them to that evening. Tim didn't know about Ponyboy's condition, but the others knew it would probably be good for all of them to go do something exciting, especially after what they had saw last night. Soda wasn't comfortable telling everyone about what was going on anyway, as it all sounded ridiculous to be scared of if you weren't the one witnessing it. Soda did feel bad that it would be the second night in a row he was going out instead of staying home, but Darry didn't mind. He was already worrying about his youngest brother's illness, he didn't need to worry about his other little brother being on edge about it. Steve had picked Soda up to go out for lunch and hang out for the day as an additional distraction before going out for the night. It wasn't working too well though as Soda gave little attention to his best friend.

"Soda? Sodapop, hello? Soda!" Soda jumped while he was staring out the car window. Steve had been calling at him for awhile, but Soda was too busy watching buildings and trees go by as Steve drove.

"Huh? What?" Soda asked turning to face Steve.

"Are you listening?" Steve asked, slightly irritated.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Soda asked rubbing his eyes. It was the early afternoon and Soda was already exhausted from the day as he had gotten no sleep last night.

"I was asking where we were going for lunch? And then I was saying after lunch, we'll go pick up Two-Bit for tonight," Steve repeated himself, "What is on your mind? You have been distracted this whole time." Steve almost regretted asking as the words spilled from his mouth. He already knew why Soda was distracted, but Steve didn't want to talk about it. He barely wanted to acknowledge it, hence why he was trying to make conversation about anything else. And if anything creepy happened to Pony again after they all left, that wasn't going to help any. Last night had scared him pretty bad. There was something very wrong going on with the youngest greaser.

Soda just shook his head, "Steve, it's getting worse."

"What? Pony? What happened after we left?" Steve asked. He felt a shiver go through his spine. What else could have possibly happened last night? The whole gang was spooked from what they had already seen. Pony just staring down at Darry while he was sleeping, with the blankest expression. Steve barely slept last night as he kept thinking about it. He continuously would peek over his shoulder, thinking Pony could have slept walk all the way to his house and was staring down at him. It seemed ridiculous to think about, but at the time it seemed very possible.

"Well I woke up and went downstairs to check on Pony. He wanted to sleep on the couch, but he wasn't there. The downstairs bathroom light was on and the door shut. I knocked, no answer, so I just walked in. Pony was standing there staring into the mirror at himself. I thought maybe he was sleep walking again, but it was still creepy. Everything is just creepy with him right now," Soda explained. Steve could tell there was more to it. As freaky as the sleep walking was alone at this point, there was something adding to it every time Pony did it.

"Did you wake him up?" Steve asked, still unsure if he wanted to hear anymore. He had to be there for Soda though, even though goosebumps were rising upon his skin.

"I did, it didn't take much. I poked him and he woke up. He was confused again. I asked him if he got sick again, he said no. But...I don't know how to explain this. I'm really not sure how to even describe what happened next," Soda said looking at Steve with a serious tone.

Steve glanced over, and got concerned at Soda's look, "What happened? What did he do?"

"I...I might have just been really tired and seeing things, but when Pony began to walk out of the bathroom...this sounds completely crazy, but I swear to God it happened. I swear it did."

"Wh-What?"

"Pony began to walk out of the bathroom," Soda repeated, "But...his reflection didn't."

Steve's mouth dropped open, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Like Pony moved...but Pony in the mirror didn't. For a split three or four seconds it stayed right there, and then moved," Soda explained. He waited for Steve to tell him he was absolutely insane and letting the fear take over him.

"Are...you sure?" Steve asked trying to picture it, "Three to four seconds is kind of long when you think about it."

"Maybe a second, I don't know Steve! Like I said," Soda said rubbing his eyes, "I may have been too tired and was just seeing things, but it sure kept me up all damn night."

"Did you tell Darry?" Steve said attempting to control his grip on the wheel.

"No," Soda said, "I didn't want to wake him or anything. I am still questioning if I really saw all of that anyway. I just sat on the kitchen floor the rest of the night, because I was too scared."

Steve thought for a moment, almost feeling the urge to throw up. He swallowed the lump in his throat and did a sudden u-turn.

"Where are we going?" Soda asked clutching onto the door.

"We are going to check this shit out," Steve announced heading back to the house. Steve suddenly got an urge of determination to figure this out. He wasn't one to sit around and let something get to him, his best friend, or the gang.

They arrived back at the house and walked in, Soda unsure and nervous what Steve's intentions were. Darry was walking out of the kitchen when he saw them entering. "What are you guys doing back? Actually it doesn't matter, I need to run to the store. Can you guys stay here before you go out again?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Soda said, "Go do what you need to."

"Thanks guys," Darry said, "Pony's in his bed." As Darry headed out the door, Soda wasn't surprised he already needed to go back to the store. They had run out of soup and other soothing foods fast. And the medicine they had was useless, so he assumed his older brother was going to look at other options.

"So do you want to tell me what you're thinking of doing yet?" Soda asked as he watched Darry's truck pull into the street.

"You have to admit this is too...too odd," Steve said, "Everything that has been going on in just a couple of days is too odd."

"Well yeah," Soda agreed to the obvious statement.

"I want to see if this mirror thing is for real."

Soda sighed, "Steve, let's just let him sleep. I don't want to wake him if my mind was really just messing with me."

"But Soda, Darry will be back in microseconds with how protective he is being, so this might be our only..."

"Darry! Soda!" Suddenly screaming was heard from upstairs. Bloody murder screaming. A true terror scream. By adrenaline, Soda and Steve were upstairs in a flash. Soda turned the bedroom door knob, but it wouldn't budge past a crack. It wasn't locked, but it felt like someone was pushing against the door.

"What the..."

"Darry!" Pony screamed with cries muffled in.

"Ponyboy! I can't get in," Soda said pushing the door with all his strength, "Steve, help me!"

Steve joined in as he pushed all of his weight onto the door.

"Soda, please hurry!" Pony cried. He sounded like he could throw up or pass out from how hard he was crying. Soda's heart ached. He wanted to help his little brother. He was just in his reach, but he couldn't get to him. He couldn't get past this explainable barrier between them. What was going on in that room? Soda continued to push the door inwards a little, but something kept pushing it back. "Soda!" Pony cried at the top of his lungs.

"Damnit!" Soda barked in a panic, "Steve, what should we do? What do I do!"

Steve backed up, "I'm going to get a screwdriver. We will just take the hinges off." Steve ran halfway down the stairs and jumped the other half, flying through the front door. Soda continued to push, desperate to fight off whatever was keeping him out.

"Steve's going to get tools Pony! Hold on!" No answer. "Pony? Are you okay?" Soda asked feeling the adrenaline drop and tears rise in his eyes. There was still no answer.

Soda stopped leaning against the door, backed up, and turned the knob. It began to open without a struggle. With shaky hands, Soda pushed the door all the way and took one step inside. Pony was hugging his knees with his face buried. He was completely still. "Ponyboy? Are you okay?" Soda slowly approached his little brother. Steps were heard coming up the stairs and Steve stopped at the bedroom door.

"Soda?"

Soda continued to walk towards the bed. Pony hadn't moved or made any noise.

"Soda, what are you doing?" Any other time, that would have been a ridiculous question. At this moment, Steve didn't know what to expect as Soda got closer though.

"Pony?" Soda quietly asked. He placed a hand on Pony's shoulder and shook him gently. Steve began approaching the bed and got next to Soda, waiting for a response. Pony didn't look up. "He feels so stiff," Soda said, "Like I can barely move him." He continued to gently shake him without success.

Both boys were so fixed on Pony that when a lamp fell from the desk to the floor, they jumped and screamed. Pony's head suddenly shot up.

"What?" he asked with tears sitting upon his face, "What happened?" Soda and Steve looked between the floor and the young greaser. Steve walked over to inspect the lamp while Soda pulled Pony against him to comfort.

"Pony, you scared me to death," Soda choked up, "Why were you screaming?"

Pony lay against Soda's chest, "I-I...What do you mean?"

Soda lifted Pony from against him and looked in his eyes, "What do you mean what do I mean? It was just minutes ago." Pony looked at Soda with his mouth open, unable to respond. Soda turned and saw Steve looking up at them, holding a couple of broken pieces in his hands.

"Soda," Pony whimpered, "I don't remember doing that."

Soda felt his frustration, but tried to keep his voice low. "Pony, you were screaming...so loud, you sounded like you were being attacked or something. And then we couldn't open the door, it was stuck. Are you sure you don't remember anything? Maybe you think it was a dream, but you were really awake?"

Pony shook his head, "I don't remember dreaming either. Soda, I swear I don't. The last thing I remember is I ate breakfast, and for some reason I felt exhausted, so Darry brought me up here to go back to sleep."

"Okay, it's okay," Soda said pulling Pony into a hug again. He looked behind him and saw Steve picking up some broken pieces. Steve looked up at him, his eyes full of a fear that Soda hadn't seen before.

* * *

"Will you two just slow down?" Darry said. Steve and Soda were in the kitchen trying to explain to Darry what happened while he was away, but they were talking at lightning speed. Darry wasn't sure if he was getting the full story as he tried piecing together everything they were saying.

"There is no way that lamp fell just because," Steve said, "That lamp was pushed by something!"

"Pony didn't even hear me until that lamp fell, but just a minute before he was screaming his head off!" Soda added in, "And something was pushing that door. We could get it to start opening, but it felt like someone was pushing it closed. Darry, we can't explain any of this."

"Okay, okay," Darry put his hands up to stop them, "I'll go up and talk to Pony, alright?"

"He says he doesn't remember," Soda said in a defeated tone.

"I know, I know," Darry said, "He can't seem to be remembering a lot lately, but I can at least talk to him." Darry made his way upstairs and entered his brother's bedroom. Pony was sitting up in bed, drawing in his notebook. Darry was curious as to what he could be drawing, but didn't think this was the time to ask. He never asked Pony about the drawings Soda had shown him already, as he was still trying to put it off as a phase Pony went through at sometime in the past.

"Hey buddy," Darry said shutting the door behind him. He sat on the bed and observed his brother. Still pale and having a gaunt look on his face. Darry could swear he was looking a little thin, even though he was still eating alright, and this hadn't been going on terribly long. He considered maybe trying to have Pony eat a bigger meal besides hot soups. "Want to talk about what happened today?"

"I don't remember," Pony immediately responded.

"Soda and Steve couldn't get in the room. They were really scared, they still are. Was something in front of the door?" Darry asked, "Why couldn't they get in?"

"I don't remember," Pony repeated, keeping his eyes down on the page. He began dragging the pencil on the paper faster, and with more pressure.

Darry sighed. He could tell Pony was getting impatient. "What about the lamp?"

Pony nearly yelled, "I said I don't remember."

Darry was slightly shocked. Pony could yell at times, but that was usually when they were arguing. This wasn't like Pony to react this way, and Darry felt slightly stunned as to where to go next.

"Just go," Pony said never taking his eyes off his drawing, "I don't know what happened and I want to be left alone."

Darry didn't want to upset Pony more, so he stood up from the bed. He leaned forward and kissed Pony on the head before leaving the room.

Back down in the kitchen, Soda and Steve waited for a report. They were on pins and needles wondering if Darry had walked into anything else happening.

"Do you think he doesn't believe us?" Steve asked. He sat in a chair, tapping his foot up and down against the floor.

"No, he does," Soda said pacing the kitchen, "He's seen the strange things too. He just hates when he doesn't know how to fix something. It's just going to frustrate him if we have more things to tell him instead of something improving."

Darry returned to the kitchen, "He's getting tired and irritated. He says he doesn't remember anything."

"But..." Steve began.

"No buts," Darry interrupted, "Guys, go to the drag race, alright? He's in a bad mood and I don't blame him. I'll try talking to him again later. You guys just go out tonight."

Soda shrugged in defeat, "Alright fine."

The boys left the house and got in Steve's car. Both of their hearts were still at a racing pace. Steve looked at Soda as he entered his keys into the ignition. His elbow was against the door, his head leaning on his hand. "Are you okay?" Steve asked.

Soda shook his head, "I don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

Steve exited his car and walked up to Soda and Two-Bit. He had won the race he put himself in last minute. It sure felt good to get the adrenaline running, a different adrenaline than the one he had earlier. Soda knew racing was definitely something Steve needed after Pony's freaky episode just earlier that day. They hadn't talked about it much afterwards, and Soda wasn't about to bother Steve to try to talk.

"You got so lucky," Two-Bit commented as he patted Steve on the back, "So damn lucky."

"It's called skill my friend," Steve laughed.

"Yeah, the very close lucky type skill," Two-Bit said.

Steve was nearly jumping up and down, "Either way, I had this need for speed!"

Soda watched his best friend's excitement. He was good at pushing things to the back of his mind and ignoring it temporarily. Soda wasn't. He thought about getting himself in a race. Maybe it would help. He knew it would help. He knew as soon as he started racing, he would be in a different world for the night.

"Alright, I'm in now," Soda announced, "Can I use your car?"

"Alright," Steve smiled, "Go for it. Just remember though, I am the master."

"The luck master," Two-Bit muttered. Steve shoved Two-Bit as Soda laughed. He headed for the track, feeling good from the laugh.

* * *

Back at the Curtis house, Darry sat in the living room with the TV on. He wasn't paying attention at all to what was on. He was sitting in deep thought. Everything was getting out of control, and he didn't like not having control on the household. The family was left with more questions than answers. The only answer they really had was that something was terribly wrong with Ponyboy. He wasn't just sick, physically at least. Darry sensed a mental problem too. So should he call a therapist? Psychologist? Darry had no idea who to turn to as no one seemed to be the ultimate answer.

Squeaking began to emerge on the stairs, breaking Darry from his trance. He turned and saw Pony slowly walking down the stairs. At the bottom, Darry could see how pale his body really was. Immediately, he grabbed a blanket and wrapped Pony up.

"Pony, you have to stay warm, please. You're too cold and are going to make this worse," Darry said leading him to the couch, "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Pony shook his head, "I just didn't want to be upstairs by myself. Where's Soda?"

Darry took a seat on the couch and let Pony lay on his lap, "At a drag race. I thought it would be good for him and the guys to just keep going out." Pony nodded in agreement. "They are creeped out by everything happening, you know?" Pony nodded again. "You want to talk about what's been happening? What you're feeling with all these strange things?" Darry began rubbing his back as he waited for a response.

"I don't know," Pony said quietly, "I don't even remember most of the things you guys say that happened. I don't know what I would even talk about. The only reason I know of these weird things I do is because you all tell me."

Darry nodded to himself, deciding to leave it at that. He knew Pony was right. He didn't remember things, so what would there be for Pony to say? Maybe besides he was nervous. Darry leaned his head back against the wall, hoping Pony would just fall asleep on his lap.

* * *

"Oh that felt good," Soda stretched as he took a seat at the bench next to Two-Bit, "I haven't raced in awhile. I usually just come watch."

"Steve usually takes up the track, so what car would you use anyway?" Two-Bit grinned.

"I know," Soda laughed, "That too."

"He sure ain't staying off the track much tonight," Two-Bit commented.

"Yeah, I think he's having a hard time with Pony being sick," Soda said, "He won't say anything, because he knows how worried I am. Did he tell you what happened today?"

"No," Two-Bit shook his head.

"Well, Pony began screaming for help. Really bad screaming Two-Bit. We go upstairs and we can't open his door."

"Did he lock you out?"

"No. We were able to open it, but it wouldn't budge enough. We felt something pushing back against us, fighting us. And then when we finally did get the door open, he was on the bed just holding himself. He was frozen still. We tried waking him up and out of nowhere, the lamp fell onto the floor and broke," Soda explained.

Two-Bit looked at Soda as he told him the events of the day, "The lamp fell?"

"We were by the bed, trying to talk to Pony, who was like a statue and asleep. The lamp fell...but it wasn't an accident. It was...it just wasn't."

"Are you sure?" Two-Bit asked.

"Positive."

Two-Bit sighed, "What does this all mean Soda? I mean...I just don't understand."

Soda shook his head as he saw Steve coming back towards them, "I don't know what any of this means."

* * *

It was late as Soda walked up to the house. Steve dropped him off and headed home, which Soda didn't blame him for not wanting to be around. It did help him to do some racing though. Even after telling Two-Bit what had happened that day, he was still smiling from the fun night. As Soda entered the house Darry was on the couch, fast asleep, probably waiting for him to get home. Soda walked over and shook his older brother.

"Darry...hey Dar, I'm home," Soda whispered. Darry jolted awake.

"Oh Soda, you're home," Darry said looking down, "Did you take Pony upstairs?"

Soda look confused, "No? You were the only one on the couch when I walked in."

Darry was up in a second and turned on the lamp, "Pony fell asleep on my lap. Where is he?"

"Darry, just relax," Soda said more to keep himself calm, "I haven't been upstairs yet. Let's look in the room." The older brothers hurried upstairs. At the boy's bedroom, the door was wide open. Turning on the light, they found the bed empty. Darry hurried to his bedroom and found the same result.

"Damnit!" Darry yelled running back downstairs. Soda tried to stay calm and logical, which was getting harder to do. He checked the upstairs bathroom. Nothing. He helped Darry check downstairs. Nothing. The backyard. Nothing.

"I'm not taking chances. I'm going to drive around. Stay here," Darry said already out the door. Soda didn't try to follow him. He sat on the couch in distress. This wasn't getting any easier. Before he could get his mind straight, a slight scratch-like noise came from the kitchen.

Soda didn't know whether to get up or stay in his spot. Was he hearing things or was a rat making it's way from under the table? Soda just stared up at the ceiling, waiting. He only heard it once, so he tried pushing it off as his imagination, stress imagination. Now he wished he had gone with Darry. There's no point in him staying put if Pony...or the other Pony, as Soda would now call it...is running off doing who knows what, probably in his sleep too. Soda shook his head. He didn't even want to think about what his little brother could be doing if he could cause a little destruction in their bedroom. Soda was surprised he was thinking of Pony causing the chaos in their room from earlier that day. Part of him wasn't certain it was Pony who was behind it. It seemed like the only explanation, but not the logical one either.

"I'm going to see a therapist after this," Soda told himself getting up from the couch, "And after they hear this, I'll get put in a small plush room and never see or hear anything weird again. I'll die in a soft room." Soda walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. He walked over to the sink and began filling the cup with water to soothe himself.

That scratching noise. It happened again, and made Soda jump and quickly turn the faucet off. It sounded like someone was scratching at wood or something. Listening carefully, it sounded close. Really close.

His heart began racing as the noise would stop, continue, stop, continue. Walking slowly, he half expected something to grab him and pull him into a parallel universe.

"That's how I'll die actually," Soda told himself, "In a parallel universe. Damn."

At the back door, it almost sounded like there was a scratch at the door. His hand was placed on the doorknob. "Please be a kitty, please be a kitty, oh for God's sake please be a kitty," Soda said with his eyes half shut. He swung the door open and saw nothing. The scratching stopped as soon as he opened the door.

He stepped outside to look. Maybe it was a cat, and him opening the door spooked it. With that thought, Soda sighed in relief. "Okay, I am seriously going crazy."

The wind began to pick up and Soda felt a few rain drops. He made his way inside, hoping a storm wouldn't start until Pony and Darry were home. Soda walked back into the living room, grabbed the remote and stood in front of the television. Flipping to the news, the weather man was predicting light rain and light winds. "Nothing to worry about too much," Soda commented.

Just as he turned off the television, lightning flashed through the windows. "Why do I ever trust the weather man?" Soda asked tossing the remote to the cushion and walking over to look outside, "He makes money by looking up at the sky and reporting what he saw. I could fucking do that. Two-Bit could do that!"

A low rumble shot across the sky and rain drops fell against the window, doing their races. Soda's heart sank, hoping Darry had found Ponyboy. He already had bad body temperatures, rain wasn't going to warm him up. Looking up at the clock, it was getting really late. "And of course I don't feel the least bit tired," Soda said throwing his head back in near boredom, "I really need to stop talking to myself. Steve should have stayed with me."

As Soda was about to head back to the couch, it happened again. Scratch...scratch...scratch. 'Darry would kill me if I brought a cat into the house,' Soda thought to himself. He raced to the backdoor and swung it open again. Soda didn't even get a chance to look down as a sudden gust of wind hit him in the face. With one good push, Soda got the door shut. Suddenly the scratching noise was louder, and definitely closer.

Soda leaned himself against the door and listened closely. He followed the noise towards the kitchen table. 'There is a damn cat under the table,' Soda tried convincing himself. His pounding heart was telling him otherwise. Slowly, and carefully, Soda bent his legs in a squatting position. Then he began bending forward. Moving his head down, he looked under the table.

There was Ponyboy, scratching at the bottom of the table, staring at Soda with the most dilated pupils he had ever seen. "Ponyboy?" Soda almost whispered. He slid over to the table and pulled Pony from underneath.

"Pony, what are you doing?" Soda began shaking him. In seconds, Pony's pupils went back to normal. He looked around for a moment.

"What's going on?" he asked, "Did I do something again?" Soda pulled Pony close, both of them choking back tears.

"It's okay Pony," Soda soothed, "Everything's fine. It wasn't anything bad this time, I promise. Let's get you to bed."

"No!" Pony barked, "I want to sleep down here with you. I am so sick of all the things I do, and I want to be watched!"

"Pony, I can watch you in our bed too," Soda reassured.

Pony shook his head, "I want to stay down here. Please. I don't like being in that bed. I may not remember what I ever do, but suddenly waking up to your guy's reactions isn't making me feel any better about it."

Soda didn't see a reason to argue. There wasn't a real issue with sleeping on the couch. "Okay, get to the couch and I'll get something to keep you real warm."

After Pony was settled, Soda decided to take his temperature. It was at 95. Soda still wasn't satisfied with that. Still a few degrees off. Soda sat in the armchair and watched TV while Pony fell fast asleep.

* * *

As Darry pulled up the driveway, he felt his heart sank. He had given up looking for Pony, and prayed hard that he had made it back home, or was home the entire time. Stepping out of the truck, Darry slammed his door shut and entered the house. He felt a huge relief as he saw Pony asleep on the couch and Soda sitting in the armchair.

"You weren't going to dare fall asleep, were you?" Darry asked.

"Just for you to come home and me see he disappeared again? No fucking way," Soda replied.

"Where was he?" Darry asked, keeping his eyes on the sleeping teenager.

"Under the table..." Soda said, "I don't know if he was there the entire time, but that's where I found him."

"I know it's a dumb question, but we should keep track of it, did he remember why he was under there?"

"Nope. He's scared though Darry. He begged me for him to stay down here, because he wants to be watched."

Darry let out a sigh, "I don't blame him. Well, why don't you go up to bed. I'll stay down here for a bit."

"Well, let me know if you want to go in your bed, and I'll come down," Soda said as he stood up.

"I will," Darry took a seat at the end of the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table.

"Good night."

"Night Pepsi-Cola."

* * *

The next morning Pony was moved upstairs into his room. He didn't want to be up there alone, but Darry thought he'd get more rest that way. He had to go to work for the day, and left Soda and Steve to keep an eye on Pony. Soda assured Pony he wouldn't be too alone, as they would check on him often.

"If anything happens, call the office building right away and they'll get to me," Darry said, "They know Pony is having some health problems, so they won't slack on me getting home."

"Will do," Soda agreed and watched his older brother leave. Steve was already told what happened last night from Soda. As Soda expected, his best friend had an idea to the event.

"Did you look under the table?" Steve asked, "Like under the actual table?"

"Hell no, why would I do that?"

Steve walked into the kitchen with Soda at his heels.

"You're braver than I am, you know that?" Soda asked.

"Yep," Steve replied, "Help me with this." Both the boys flipped the table on it's side as quietly as possible. The boys almost jumped at the sight. Pony had definitely scratched something into the table. "Damn, your brother has some nails."

Kneeling down, the boys took a closer look. They squinted as they made out the letters. The boys looked at each other, as if to ask if they were seeing what they thought they were seeing, and then back at the engraving.

'Kill them all.'


	7. Chapter 7

No one said anything to Ponyboy about the table. As soon as Darry saw it, he had the boys flip it back over immediately. He didn't see any reason to get Pony worked up over it. He tried his hardest not to show concern over it, but Soda and Steve could easily sense it. They were unsure whether to take it as a threat or not.

"Don't worry guys, I have made an appointment for him tomorrow. It's with a therapist, except he's going to come over here. I told him Pony's so physically ill, I didn't want to move him around too much," Darry said changing the subject.

"When is he coming?" Soda asked.

"Around ten," Darry replied.

"And what if that doesn't end up working?" Steve asked, "I mean, what can they really do about this? It isn't exactly a mental problem."

Darry sighed, "As of right now, I don't know. It's something though, or it could at least be something. It's a step to help find out what's wrong."

"Yeah," Soda agreed, "When is dinner?"

"I'll get it started in probably an hour."

"Okay. I think Steve and me will go to the park or something. We'll be back later."

* * *

"So, what do you think about Darry getting a therapist?" Steve asked as the two greasers walked down the street.

"I don't know. I think you were right."

"About what?"

"It not being a mental problem. It's not something a therapist can fix," Soda said.

"I mean, there can be a little issue up there too," Steve said, "It's mostly physical for sure though."

"I don't know Steve. I just don't know about the mental part," Soda said looking down towards the street, "Something is telling me it's not that...at all"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't really explain it. It's just how I feel," Soda shrugged, "I feel like we've all said or thought this, but Pony just doesn't do this. It doesn't matter how sick he is, he would never act out like this. No one would."

"Well what else do you think it is?"

Soda threw his hands up, "I have no idea Steve. It's just...it's like someone else is doing it. Okay there, I said it. It can't be Ponyboy. That's not Ponyboy. It's someone else."

* * *

The next morning, the therapist arrived. His name was Dr. Phillip Nortonson. He was average height and looked maybe in his forties. All he brought with him were a few pens and a clipboard with paper. Soda figured he was just going to ask some questions and write Pony's answers down. Not like he was the type of doctor to do check-ups, blood tests, or make a diagnosis. Even though Soda was doubtful, maybe Dr. Nortonson could figure out why Pony was having a lot of sleepwalks, zoning out, and acting out.

"Why don't you go ahead and bring him down," Dr. Nortonson said, "I am going to ask you two to stay upstairs though for this first part of the questioning. He may be more open if you two aren't here to directly hear anything."

Soda nodded as he followed Darry upstairs. He waited in Darry's room as he carried Ponyboy down. Darry soon joined Soda and shut the door. Surprisingly, Soda felt patient about waiting. Each minute passing felt like an extra step closer to some relief, and possibly answers.

"Do you think he's going to question us too?" Soda asked.

"Probably. Nothing to worry over though, it's not like he's a detective or CPS or something. It would all be for Ponyboy's sake. Probably just be questions on what we have been noticing, like any other doctor," Darry explained, "He asked me things like that over the phone too."

Soda nodded, "I wonder if any of Pony's episodes will happen while he's here."

"Oddly, I hope so, because I don't have the slightest idea how I'll explain that one to him, let alone get him to believe us. The best I can describe it is that someone else is taking over Pony and making him do things. Because it's not Pony, it is, but it isn't. You know?" Darry asked.

"Well yeah, because Pony doesn't even remember these events. He doesn't remember doing these things or anything," Soda said, feeling somewhat relieved to hear Darry say what he had just told Steve the previous night. They were both clearly thinking the same thing, but had no idea what it exactly meant.

"But then there's also the physical stuff. His temperature is the biggest thing. That one is so...mind boggling, I don't know how his body is that cold and not...having more drastic damage," Darry said rubbing his temples, "I'll just see what this doctor has to say and then bring Pony back to our regular doctor's office and talk to him about it. Maybe have Pony checked out again. It's driving me crazy that we aren't getting any results. If anything, it's just getting worse."

Soda nodded in agreement. He listened intently for awhile and suddenly said, "Do you think it's weird we can't even hear the slightest mumble down there? I know the door's shut, but I have always been able to hear people downstairs." Darry shrugged and got up.

"Of course, ninety percent of the time the gang is over, so it's usually pretty loud down there," Darry pointed out.

"I guess, but it's not like the doctor would be whispering to him."

Opening the door, Darry listened. It was dead silent. That did seem odd. As soon as Soda watched Darry walk out into the hallway, he was soon behind him. They both began walking down the stairs at a normal pace. Once they reached the bottom, neither of them knew how to feel or react at the sight in front of them.

Ponyboy was still on the couch. Dr. Nortonson was still in the armchair. Both of them were staring into each other's eyes. Just a deadlock stare. Neither of them moved or made a single noise.

"Dr. Nortonson?" Darry asked nudging his shoulder. Soda didn't even move from the stairs. He was too frightened. He felt his stomach jump from the fear he suddenly felt. He wouldn't dare look over at Ponyboy. This was all just becoming too much.

"Dr. Nortonson? What's going on?" Darry asked looking back at Pony, as if he was asking him what happened to the doctor. Suddenly the house rocked. It was like an earthquake, but it ended as soon as it started, as quick as a blink. It was enough to startle the two brothers though. The few shakes were enough to snap Dr. Nortonson out of his trance too.

"Doctor?" Darry asked in a shaky tone, "Are you okay?" Soda was holding onto the stair railing, expecting more shakes to come. Pony was still motionless on the couch.

"Oh God..." Dr. Nortonson mumbled looking around.

"What?" Darry asked, "It's okay it was just a little rumble. It's done."

"I...just saw the most...terrifying thing...I have to go..." Dr. Nortonson didn't miss a beat as he jumped up from the armchair and brushed past Darry.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Darry asked following the doctor to the door. He couldn't have been talking about the rumble him and Soda had felt. In seconds, the doctor was outside and Darry was practically chasing him for answers.

Soda gulped and slowly turned his view towards the couch. Pony had turned his head and was staring at him, making Soda jump. "What did you do to him?" Soda whispered.

Pony continued to stare, not a single word being said. Soda was so frustrated, he walked over to the couch and shook his little brother uncontrollably. "What did you do! What is happening to you!"

Darry walked back in and grabbed Soda, "Soda stop it!"

"What are you doing to us!" Soda yelled while trying to break free of Darry's grasp, "What did you do!" Pony's body fell back onto the couch, passing out into a deep slumber.

"Soda, come on little buddy," Darry turned Soda towards him and held on tight, "Shhh, relax. I know you're frustrated. So am I. You have to hold it together though." Soda began taking breaths to calm himself. Darry looked down at his youngest brother, watching his body relax and look at peace, knowing he would wake up again and be unaware of the events that just took place.

* * *

"Hey Steve!"

Steve turned from the garage and saw Two-Bit walking up.

"Oh boy, what could you want?" Steve asked.

"Just coming to say hi. Something wrong with that?"

"Depends if you need something out of me," Steve said jokingly.

"Not this time," Two-Bit leaned against the garage wall, "How's Ponyboy?"

"Um," Steve remembered what he had seen of the kitchen table yesterday, "Not good. A therapist was suppose to go over there this morning though."

"Damn."

"I was over there yesterday, and Soda told me how Pony had been hiding under the table scratching at it. So we flipped it over and there were words scratched out."

"What did it say?" Two-Bit asked.

Steve swallowed hard, "Ki-Kill them all."

Two-Bit's mouth dropped open, "Are you sure? I mean, it could have been hard to read being scratches under a table..."

"We are very sure. It was...clear enough."

"Oh man. This is getting bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Steve looked down, "Soda told me yesterday how he wasn't sure about the therapist though, because he doesn't think Pony has a mental problem. He just described it as not being Pony. Like someone else is doing this stuff, because it doesn't make sense for Pony to do it."

"I mean, he's not wrong about that."

"It's just confusing, because I don't know what else that could mean," Steve shook his head, "I get what Soda means, but I don't get it either."

Two-Bit looked outside, and then back at Steve, "Well, what about like ghost stuff?"

"What?" Steve asked confused.

"You know, like those movies we've seen, where those spirits haunt houses and stuff?" Two-Bit asked.

"Those are just movies," Steve tried shaking the idea off. He was already scared enough, he didn't need those thoughts running around his head.

"Are they? There are stories about haunted things."

"That's just ridiculous Two-Bit."

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but...you never know, right?" Two-Bit hunched his shoulders up.

Steve felt a shiver go up his spine, too scared to go on with that conversation. Ghosts didn't exist. That's all Steve knew. As much as Steve hated to admit it though, for the first time in his life, Two-Bit was making sense.

"I think I'm going to look into it," Two-Bit said.

Steve sighed, "Well, I hope you find out we're just being crazy."

"So you don't think I'm completely wrong?"

Steve shook his head, knowing he was caught with that one, "Maybe. But don't be going around telling anyone else right now."

"I won't," Two-Bit got up to leave the garage, "I hope we're just crazy too."

* * *

The afternoon turned into the evening, and it had been a very distracting time for Steve. He tried to continue his work, but everything Two-Bit was saying was repeating in his mind. The more he kept thinking about it, the more it was starting to sound accurate. It was making more sense than anything else anyone was saying. It almost answered his confusion to Soda claiming someone else was going these things and not Ponyboy.

"Hey Steve," Mr. Huffman, the owner of the DX, said at the garage entrance, "Sodapop's on the phone."

"O-Okay, did he say what he needs?" Steve asked.

Mr. Huffman shook his head, "He just asked for you."

Steve nodded, nervous what the phone call could be about, "Okay, thanks."

He took a little longer than normal walking into the store. His feet felt heavy. His heart began racing, unsure what he was about to hear. Sweaty palms lifted the receiver.

"Soda?"

"Hey Steve."

"Hey," Steve looked around the store, not seeing anyone around, "Is everything okay?"

"The therapist was a complete flunk," Soda said.

"He couldn't figure anything out?" Steve asked.

"No, he didn't do anything. Darry and me were in the bedroom waiting, but we didn't hear anything. We went downstairs to check it out, and the therapist and Pony were just staring each other down."

"What do you mean?"

"No one was moving a muscle, no one was talking," Soda explained, "When the doctor came through, he said he saw something terrifying and just ran out."

"Oh my God...what did he see?"

"He didn't say," Soda sighed, "He just ran out of here."

"Shit."

"Hey, I have a weird feeling that I already know the answer to this, but I hope I'm wrong..."

"What?"

"We-were there any shakes over there? At the DX?"

"Shakes?" Steve asked confused.

"Yeah...when Darry was trying to shake the therapist out of his...trance or whatever the hell he was in, our house shook."

"Shook? Like an earthquake?"

"Yeah. It was very short, but we felt it."

"I didn't feel anything," Steve shook his head. Two-Bit's comments began flowing through his head again, as Soda obviously expected Steve to say he hadn't experienced what they had. "Would you be surprised if it only happened at your house?"

Soda was quiet for a minute, "Actually no, I don't think I would be."

"Did anything else happen?"

"Well...I kind of lost my shit at Ponyboy," Soda said with a disappointed tone.

"In what way?"

"I got so mad, I got so frustrated Steve that I walked over to him and shook him and yelled at him," Soda sighed, "Damn it, he wasn't answering me! He just stared at me, and wasn't saying anything. I was...I just lost my cool man."

"Don't feel bad Soda. We're all getting frustrated. To be honest, Pony probably didn't even notice. I mean he's not noticing anything else."

"You got a point there," Soda agreed, "How much longer do you have to work?"

"I'm closing up, so I might be here for a couple of hours still. You want me to come over?"

"Yeah, Johnny came over to hang with Pony and Dally came with him. We'll play cards or something."

"Cool, I'll be over soon."

* * *

Two-Bit Mathews entered the city library that afternoon. He felt odd walking in there, but he was determined to find out some information. "Hopefully no one I know sees me in here," Two-Bit smirked, "I would never hear the end of it."

Strolling up and down the aisles, he eventually found the area of books he was looking for. "I wonder what people would make fun of me more for? Just for being here at the library, or for researching ghosts."

Scanning the shelves, he found books about ghosts, haunted buildings, most haunted places in the country, spirits, and many more. "Oh boy, this could become a study session," Two-Bit whistled. He didn't care though. He was as desperate as the rest of the gang. He also felt like he was onto something here. As crazy as it sounded, he thought he could get somewhere. Maybe if he could convince Steve, then Steve could help him convince the rest of the gang.

* * *

"Did you try talking to the therapist?" Johnny asked. He sat in the chair while Ponyboy sat in bed, sketching in his notebook. Johnny hated seeing his best friend the way he was. It made him very concerned, and he wanted to help, but he didn't know where to begin. All he could think to do was keep Pony warm and fed, and even those seemed like a big challenge.

"I don't think he ever asked me anything," Pony said, struggling to remember what happened after he had introduced himself to Dr. Nortonson.

"Did you zone out?"

Pony shrugged, "I seem to do that all the time lately. Darry and Soda didn't really tell me anything though. The last thing I remember is waking up on the couch, and I asked them about the therapist, and they just said he couldn't stay long and just left."

"That's weird," Johnny commented.

"I think it's a lie. The way Soda looked, I must have did something else. They just aren't telling me anymore."

"It's probably for your own good."

"I guess, but I think I worry more not knowing. Like I feel like asking how bad was it if they can't even tell me."

Johnny shrugged, "Maybe it's not always that bad. They just want to protect you. They want to handle this for you."

"I know Johnnycake. I know."

* * *

Two-Bit sat at one of the tables in the library with a few books. "No way bringing these into my house," the greaser muttered.

He began flipping around in the books until he could find something that was close to Ponyboy's case. Some of the readings were just interesting trivia, but Two-Bit felt uneasy at the idea that these were all written as true accounts of haunted happenings. There seemed to be more stories based on true accounts and actual studies than your average fictional ghost story. Two-Bit hadn't realized how much could actually be accurate to his claim.

"Hmm, this might be what I'm looking for," Two-Bit said as he found a chapter that discussed possession and evil spirits.

* * *

Dally, Soda, and Darry started a card game while Johnny sat upstairs with Ponyboy. Soda could tell Darry had to be feeling stressed if he wanted to sit down for a card game. It humored Soda more than anything though.

"So the therapist was no good, huh?" Dally asked.

"He was so scared," Darry replied shuffling through his hand, "We just don't know of what."

"I don't know if that's a big mystery," Dally commented.

"Yeah, I know," Darry said, "I just wish he would have told us specifics."

"I still feel bad I lost my temper at Pony," Soda said quietly.

"He's tough," Dally said, "And you've been dealing with so much. You were bound to lose your shit."

"I know. He's sick though, I can't be doing that."

"It's all good Pepsi Cola," Darry assured, "You can't focus on that one moment right now. You have to move past it."

"You're right," Soda nodded. The boys heard the front door opened and Steve Randle entered the kitchen.

"You guys started without me?" Steve asked going to the fridge and grabbing a beer.

"Couldn't wait to start the party," Dally smirked.

Steve glanced around the table as he took a seat, "Did, uh, Two-Bit come by at all?" The three boys shook their heads together.

"Haven't heard from him," Soda said, "Probably went out to get good and drunk."

"He's too good for us," Dally said.

Darry grinned, "I don't miss him too much."

"Sheesh don't be so mean," Soda laughed.

"Hey every now and then we can have a little peace and quiet," Steve smiled.

Dally laughed, "Let's just enjoy this. He probably sensed us talking about him and he's going to barge through that door any second."

* * *

Two-Bit felt his heart continue to speed up and stop as he continued to read. He wanted to put the book away, but couldn't. It was some intense reading, and it was all sounding too familiar.

"We're closing up soon," a voice broke Two-Bit from his concentration.

Two-Bit ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Um, okay. Thanks." He skimmed the last bit of the page, and closed the book.

* * *

"Damn it," Steve said throwing his cards onto the table, "What, did Soda teach you how to cheat at cards Dally?"

Dally laughed as he gathered the chips and cookies at the middle of the table, "Sore loser."

"Got to cheat in something you have no skill in," Steve said getting up from his seat.

"Wow," Soda laughed.

"I'm going for a smoke," Steve said placing a cigarette between his lips, "Coming out Dally?"

"If you don't kill me," Dally smirked getting up.

"I'll come out for one," Soda said.

Steve looked at Soda with a questionable glance, but opened the door to go out, "Okay."

"Oh don't worry guys, I'll gather this mess and shuffle," Darry said picking up the cards scattered around the table.

"Thanks Darry," Dally grinned while the three boys stepped outside.

"Feeling okay?" Steve asked as he handed Soda a cigarette.

"Just need to relax a little," Soda said.

"I don't blame you," Steve said.

"Do you guys think we're overreacting at all?" Dally asked.

Steve sighed, "Well, I would hope so. I beg for that to be it. But no."

"I pray that one day he's just going to wake up and it'll all be gone," Soda said, "He'll be all better. Whatever this is will have passed on."

"That's what we all hope," Dally said.

Steve didn't want to tell them about his conversation with Two-Bit earlier. He still wasn't sure what to think of it. He wanted to wait until he heard what Two-Bit might find out, if anything.

"You know, I just..."

Soda's sentence was interrupted when a loud bang was heard from inside the house.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry readers this took some time to type and update! I know this is a rewrite, but this is a chapter that wasn't in the original story, so it's completely from scratch and took some extra time! Enjoy!

There were multiple small bangs that came from inside the house. Soda and Dally immediately headed for the door. Steve looked up towards the dark sky, tossing his cigarette to the side, "Why God, why?" He hesitantly followed Soda and Dally back into the house to investigate the source of the sound.

Soda was ready to run upstairs where Ponyboy was, but stopped in his tracks as he saw Darry on his hands and knees collecting some cups. Dally and Steve scooted there way inside around Soda. They looked down in confusion at the many cups on the floor.

"What happened?" Soda asked.

"Were you practicing your juggling?" Dally asked.

"Ha ha. I opened the cupboard and all of these decided to fall out," Darry got to his feet, placing the cups on the counter, "Good thing these aren't made of glass."

"Hell Darry, you scared us half to death," Steve said shaking his head.

"We can't be having surprises like that going on right now man," Dally added in.

"Hey I'm sorry guys that I couldn't foresee this coming. They must not have gotten put away right."

"I guess you're forgiven," Soda grinned. He got further in the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing two beers. "Here, these will calm you guys down."

"Hey, I'm doing just fine, but I'll have one anyway" Dally accepted the beer, taking a seat at the table.

"I think I actually need another smoke after that one," Steve said. This night was not the best night for Steve to experience anything odd after the conversation he had had with Two-Bit at the DX. He was only more on edge.

"Are you sure?" Soda asked.

"Steve, I honestly didn't mean to scare you guys," Darry said, "I know it's bad timing, but it was just an accident."

"I know, I just need a walk," Steve said, "Any of y'all want to join?"

"Naw, we'll play some more cards though when you get back," Soda said.

"You mean you'll be showing Dally more cheats while I'm gone," Steve winked.

"Oh yeah that too," Dally said.

As Steve walked out the front door, Darry spoke up, "He's not coming back is he?"

Soda shook his head, "I don't think so."

* * *

Steve walked down the road with his cigarette in hand. He was trying to shake the jitters off, but was struggling to convince himself to turn around and go back to the house. The cups falling out of the cupboard just brought Steve back to his conversation with Two-Bit. He wanted to keep pushing it off as Two-Bit being crazy and making a joke out of this situation, but Steve continued to think about it and how logical it seemed to fit everything, which only freaked him out more.

"There's just no way I could bring it up to Soda though," Steve shook his head, "He'd just get mad that I was even considering downplaying Pony being sick to a damn horror movie plot. Him and Darry would just think I'm the crazy one. Especially if Pony ended up getting better and ended up being just fine in a few days, then I'd be known as the greaser who is calling out ghosts."

Steve took a deep inhale of his cigarette, "Not that me talking to myself is helping my case."

As Steve continued his walk and talk with himself, a horn began honking from behind. He turned around and saw the familiar car pull up next to him.

"Hey Steve!"

"Hey," Steve said walking up to the open window, seeing Two-Bit at the wheel.

"Where are you going?"

"I have no idea. Just needed a walk," Steve shrugged, "Might just go home though. I want to just go to bed right now."

"Were you at Soda's?"

"Yeah, but...I just can't stay there."

"Did you go there after work?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well..." Two-Bit grinned, "Don't you need to get your car?"

"Shit," Steve smirked, "Guess I didn't think of that one."

"Better not leave it there or Soda will take it for a joyride."

"Ha," Steve uncomfortably shrugged, "He may not be the worst person there to take my car."

"Hop in here."

Steve opened the passenger door and took a seat, "I'm assuming you found something out then."

"Yeah," Two-Bit said putting his car in park, "That's actually why I was heading over. I wanted to talk to you about it. Finding you out here alone makes it a little easier to talk about though."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly ready to bring up this idea to Soda yet. Who knows how he would react," Steve shook his head.

"I wouldn't want to be the one to tell him."

"Well this must be something big then," Steve said running a hand through his hair, "Just do it. Just tell me."

"I found a book about possession," Two-Bit said biting his nail.

"Possession?"

"Yeah, like about spirits or demons taking over houses and haunting them," Two-Bit uneasily cocked his head to the side, "Or...people."

Steve looked at Two-Bit, his eyes slowly widening, "What do you mean by 'or people'?"

"Spirits can take over people too. Human possession."

"What kind of scary story book did you read?"

"It's not a scary story thing," Two-Bit said with a serious tone, "These were real things people claimed happened."

"You can't be serious right now," Steve shook his head, not wanting to believe any of it.

"These are spirits that can take over people," Two-Bit repeated with a hard grunt, "Like, they can make people do things. They can change things about their bodies. They want to hurt them."

"So...you're saying Pony's mysterious illness is a demon inside of him?"

"Well yeah, I mean maybe...I read it over and over, and thought about Ponyboy with it over and over. I know it sounds absolutely crazy."

"Whack job crazy," Steve added in.

"But Steve, if you would've read this book, you would have seen it too. Everything it explained is exactly what Pony is going through right now!" Two-Bit said.

"Like what?" Steve asked, hoping he could find a loophole in Two-Bit's explanation.

"Like you said, Pony has a mysterious illness. It's a simple problem, he's just cold right? But no one can figure out how to fix this simple, yet complicated illness," Two-Bit explained.

"Okay," Steve nodded in agreement, "Go on."

"Pony has done very strange things."

"Like sleepwalking?" Steve asked.

"Well yeah, but here's the kicker on that one," Two-Bit held a finger up, "He may not _actually _be sleepwalking. That's when the spirit is...like really awake."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It was the spirit taking over Pony's body and making it do things. It made Pony stand out in the backyard, because it would hurt Pony's body more. It stood over and stared at Darry, because it wanted to spook us all. The more scared we all are, the more we all believe in what is happening, the stronger it gets!"

Steve just stared at Two-Bit. He was struggling to comprehend all that was being said to him. It simply couldn't be real, right? An invisible force taking over the youngest greaser's body and literally controlling it. That didn't happen in real life. That couldn't be real.

"It seems like Pony is sleepwalking, because in a way he is asleep," Two-Bit went on, "He doesn't remember anything, because it's all this evil spirit doing it with his body."

Steve lay his head in his hands, closing his eyes, having a hard time wanting to let Two-Bit go on.

"Look man, I don't want to believe any of this," Two-Bit said, "I know it was a different kind of talk earlier today, but now that I really looked into it...it's some serious shit man."

"So...why is it doing this?" Steve asked, not looking back up.

Two-Bit shrugged, "I mean, there could be different reasons. It could be taking over Pony, because Pony is the main target. Or it also said Pony's body is just a strong host for what it wants. One of us could be the target."

"What do you mean? Pony, or one of us, is a target for what?"

* * *

It was getting late. As Soda expected, Steve didn't return. He left Steve's keys by the front door in case Steve came back for his car sometime that night or early morning. He felt bad his best friend got so spooked that he couldn't stay in the house. The Curtis house was usually the getaway for the greasers. Dally had headed out after they had waited awhile. Soda had gathered the cards into a cleaner-but-still-messy pile. Darry had gone up to bed and Johnny was asleep on the couch. Soda stayed up for some time, hoping Steve would walk through the door at anytime. As Soda finished up the bag of chips he had out, he tossed the bag in the trash. He licked his fingers, feeling the saltiness take over his mouth. He walked over to the cupboard to get a cup for some water. As he opened the cupboard door, the cups fell forward, causing Soda to jump back as they clanged onto the floor. Soda squinted his eyes shut at the loud noise it caused, figuring Darry was awake now.

"Shit," Soda muttered. He hurried to the floor to gather the cups.

"What was that?" Soda looked up, and as he expected, saw Darry at the kitchen entrance. "Did those fall again?"

"Yeah," Soda got to his feet, his heart slightly racing from the surprise, "I was just getting some water before I go to bed."

"Did you make them fall trying to get one?" Darry asked.

"No, no. I barely opened the cupboard and they were just falling out."

"We've never had this issue before." Darry walked over and grabbed onto the shelf the cups sat on. "It's not loose or anything."

Soda felt himself get uneasy, "I don't even want to put them away."

Darry sensed his little brother getting nervous again. He was even getting nervous himself, with no answers to give. "We can just leave them on the counter. Let's just go to bed. Steve still didn't show up?"

"No, I really didn't expect him to. He knows his car is safe here. He'll be by tomorrow."

The two brothers shut off all the lights and walked upstairs. Soda went into his room and saw Pony in a deep sleep. Pony hadn't slept in the bed for some time, he mostly preferred the couch. Soda thought the next time Pony slept in the bed with him would be comforting, but that wasn't close to what he was feeling. He took his time getting ready for bed, unsure if he was even comfortable sleeping in the same bed as Pony. Frustrated with even doubting it, he left his room angrily and stormed into Darry's.

"Soda? What's going on? Are you okay?"

Soda sat at the foot of the bed, his back towards Darry, "I am feeling like shit right now."

"Why?"

"Darry, I'm too scared to sleep in the same bed as Ponyboy," Soda said, feeling tears sting his eyes at the verbal confession, "I know that's horrible to say, but I am scared."

Darry scooted to where Soda was sitting and put an arm around him, "Little buddy, I know this is all hard. I understand why you're scared. I'm worried too. Do you want to sleep in here tonight?"

Soda sighed, "I feel like I'm going to feel guilty if I do."

Darry shook his head, "Don't. Think of it as him getting better rest just having that big cozy bed to himself."

"Yeah I guess."

"Come on," Darry said, "Just get in and get some sleep."

* * *

Soda didn't sleep well as he kept thinking about sleeping in Darry's bed. He knew Pony had been sleeping by himself some on the couch, so he clearly wasn't having a hard time being alone. There was still some guilt, but then Soda would think about the things that could've happened in the middle of the night with Pony, and was only comforted by Darry being next to him instead.

After knowing he was only going to be awake for the day, Soda walked downstairs. He saw Johnny was still asleep on the couch, so he made his way into the kitchen. The sight in the kitchen barely scared Soda, as it frustrated him more than anything else. "Oh, no, no, no, no," Soda threw his hands up to his head, "Come on, are you kidding me!"

"Do you like what I did?"

The voice made Soda jump. He quickly turned around, and saw Pony standing there, a small grin on his face. The way his face was with the confident voice startled Soda. He had no idea what to do next.

"Did you do this Pony?" Soda asked in a low voice. Pony didn't respond. Instead, he turned around and ran off, footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Soda couldn't get himself to follow, as fear and shock kept his feet planted on the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

Soda didn't bother chasing his little brother. He knew it wasn't worth it. There was a deep groan coming from Soda as he prepared to clean the mess Pony clearly made. The cups that couldn't seem to stay in the cupboard were on the floor, again. They weren't on the floor in a fallen way though. They were all standing upright and were in a circle within a triangle-like format.

"I just can't with this," Soda shook his head as he collected the cups onto the counter, "Just put me in a soft room please." Shortly after he got the floor cleaned, he heard the front door open.

"Hey."

Soda turned and saw Steve entering the kitchen, "Hey. Come back for your car?"

"Oh yeah, sorry I left that here last night."

"It's not a problem. I honestly didn't expect you to come back last night. You seemed pretty..." Soda really looked at Steve and noticed how exhausted he looked, "Did you sleep at all? You look awful."

"Thank you," Steve smirked, "I might have to make some coffee. I'm desperate for it."

"Did you get that spooked yesterday that you didn't even sleep?" Soda realized he probably couldn't say much considering he slept with his older brother last night.

"Well not just that," Steve rubbed his eyes, "I was over at Two-Bit's. We were talking about things and I just crashed there for the night."

"Wow you choosing Two-Bit over me now?" Soda said with mock hurt.

Steve chuckled a little, "Oh shut up."

Soda smiled, "So what did you guys talk about then?"

"Well," Steve ran his hands down his face, bracing himself for the conversation, "That's what I came to talk to you about. We should go out back though. We should talk outside, alone."

"Oh great," Soda muttered, leading the way to the backyard. The boys took a seat on the porch steps. Steve was silent. He didn't know how to bring this all up to Soda. It was a lot to take in, and it was easy to blow it off as a ridiculous fairy tale. Even Steve and Two-Bit went back and forth on tossing it aside from being an option, but the more they talked, the more it seemed real. The more it seemed to be the only explanation. They couldn't ignore it. "Well?"

Steve sighed, "Sorry, this is...this is just really hard to say."

"Just spill it out man."

"Well, I think the first thing I should say is you need to keep an open mind."

Soda shrugged, "That's not that hard. I think I'm usually pretty open-minded."

"You are," Steve agreed, "But this one...is going to be hard to take in I think. It took me and Two-Bit hours to come to terms with it. I don't even expect you to accept this right away. All I can ask is you keep a very, very open mind as you think about it."

"You're scaring me," Soda stood up and placed his hands inside his pockets, "What is this even about anyway?"

"It's about Ponyboy," Steve looked down towards the steps.

"What about him?"

Steve went silent again. He had no idea how to answer that question, let alone begin. He almost wished Two-Bit was with him to help shove it out of him. He didn't want to upset his best friend.

"Steve, come on!"

Steve jumped at Soda's sudden outburst.

"Sorry, I...I'm already desperate for something, anything to help Ponyboy. Just tell me please. I want to hear it."

"So, Two-Bit went to the library..." Steve could have kicked himself for starting with that statement.

Soda's mouth hung open, "Is this a joke?"

"No, it's not," Steve looked up at Soda.

Soda sat back down on the step, "You're right, I'm going to have to be very open-minded about this one."

"Anyway, Two-Bit went to the library to look into something. He had come by the DX and was telling me how he had been thinking maybe Pony's illness has something to do with the...the um...paranormal side."

"Paranormal? What do you mean?"

"Like ghosts and spirits and stuff," Steve sat himself up and turned towards Soda, "You know how houses can be haunted? It's like demons and shit taking over the house and causing crazy shit to happen?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well Two-Bit looked into it and found these stories, these true stories, of people claiming they or someone they know was taken over by a spirit. Their bodies were taken over by a spirit."

Soda's expression was blank, "Y'all think Ponyboy is haunted?"

Steve rolled his eyes without meaning to and stood up, walking down into the yard, "Not exactly. I know this is going to sound insane, but...yes we think something is taking over Pony. This book Two-Bit found talked about how the host of the spirit will suddenly be sick with something that just can't seemed to be fixed. They make them do weird things. Like when Pony is sleepwalking, it's just him being out of it while the spirit takes over and does things to scare us. It wants us all to be scared like we have been."

Soda just stared at Steve. He couldn't believe what was coming out of Steve's mouth. As angry as he would be, he almost hoped it was some sick joke from Steve and Two-Bit.

"I'm sorry," Steve placed his face into his hands, "I know I'm just spilling things out and going through subjects fast, but...it is a lot to cover, and I'm trying to prove my point before you throw me on the crazy bus."

"Well..." Soda shook his head, trying to comprehend what was being thrown at him, "What the hell do you want me to say?"

Steve walked closer to Soda, "Nothing. Don't say anything. Just listen to me, okay?"

Soda took a deep sigh, "Okay. Go on."

"In this book it explained how evil spirits need a host to do whatever it is their goal is. Pony could be the main target for something, or Pony is the strongest host to get to whoever the spirit is after. It could be any of us really. Using Pony's body is why he seems so sick and so much is changing for his body. You said it yourself he was looking so skinny so quick. Sure he's having trouble eating, but you still don't become skin and bones instantly. And his body temperature is slowly dropping, because of this thing in him. And like I said before, his sleepwalking is when the spirit is at it's peak and tries some tactic to get us all on edge, because that's what is giving it power," Steve explained, "Two-Bit and me went over...so many other options, so many other things or ideas or scenarios or whatever the fuck you want to call it, this is the one thing that is checking off every single box. Ask me any what if's you can think of, and I bet you we already thought of it."

Soda revisited to just a short moment ago. The cups were on the ground in some design. Suddenly those cups just couldn't stay in the cupboard anymore, and there was no explanation for that. The way Pony responded to Soda about it too wasn't right either. He had been saying that it seemed like Pony wasn't being Pony right now. It did seem like something else was taking over him, making him act like someone he's not. Soda revisited to the past couple days. He couldn't think of enough moments with his younger brother versus moments with an unknown stranger.

"I...I just don't know what to say to all of that Steve," Soda shook his head and looked over to the side, "You do realize how insane this does sound?"

"Yes, I absolutely do. Two-Bit was the one who brought it up to me first, and I thought it sounded ridiculous! But then even before he looked further into it, I thought about it and...I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't deny it made a little bit of sense," Steve watched as Soda continued looking away, "Don't you think it makes at least a little bit of sense?"

Soda looked back up at Steve, "I mean...yeah."

"Okay," Steve let out a breath, "At least I have that from you."

"And you said it took you and Two-Bit a long time to come to terms with it?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded.

"So are you saying you guys aren't questioning it at all anymore?" Soda asked, "Like you're set on this?"

Steve opened his mouth and thought of his answer, "Maybe. It's become harder to get away from it now."

Soda stood up from his spot, "So, what would Pony be a target for?"

"I don't know. This spirit could be causing all of this and just waiting for Pony to go crazy and maybe...possibly..." Steve choked on his wording, "...do away with himself...or the spirit just causes his body to shut down."

Soda's mouth fell open as he slowly fell back to the porch steps.

"I don't know for sure Soda," Steve quickly said, "Don't...panic."

"Oh yeah," Soda sarcastically said, "Don't panic after all of that information. Should be easy to do." The two boys were silent for a moment. Steve let Soda take everything in. Two-Bit had to give Steve time to take it in, and then they both had to take even more time as they looked into it more together. "So, what are we suppose to do about this, if that's what this is? Is there something we could try to maybe...prove if it is or isn't?"

"Well, we hadn't really gotten into that part. We were, uh, getting pretty spooked enough. And...I know this could or could not be true, but Two-Bit did read that the spirit could get angered or triggered if it senses attacks so that's why I wanted to talk to you outside and alone. And I think we should keep it between us. Don't go tell Darry."

Soda faked a laugh, "I ain't telling Darry shit. He'd throw me in the loony bin with all of this."

"Not until we have some real evidence."

Soda sat himself up as he thought for a minute, "We need to go see Two-Bit."

The two greasers hurried inside the house. Soda felt a lump in his throat when he saw Ponyboy sitting on the couch next to Johnny. "W-We're going out guys," Soda said as he picked up one of his shoes with a shaky hand.

"Okay cool," Johnny replied, "I can hang with Ponyboy. Not like I have anywhere to be."

As Soda glanced back up, he saw Pony looking directly at him. "Where are you going?"

"Just out," Soda simply responded.

"You know Darry will ask," Pony said, but Soda couldn't help but pay deep attention to his tone.

"Just tell him I'll be home later," Soda hurried out of the house with Steve right behind him.

* * *

It took awhile for Soda and Steve to find Two-Bit. They looked around the hangouts and around town, but couldn't find him. It usually didn't take them long to find Two-Bit, or hear about where he was. If he bugged people enough, you could figure out where he was hanging out for the day. They finally decided to try his house, and were slightly surprised to see him answer the door.

"Hey guys," Two-Bit greeted. He had a good idea why they were at his house.

"You're home?" Steve asked, "Sheesh, you need to put a memo out when that happens."

Two-Bit smirked, "I'm loved at my home." Soda and Steve walked inside the house. "So what's going on?"

"Well, Steve told me everything," Soda said.

"I figured that," Two-Bit looked down towards the floor, "You come here to tell me I'm a lunatic?"

"If Steve doesn't think you are, I guess I need to hear about it," Soda admitted, "But he did say you guys didn't read about how to fix this or how to even prove it is what...we may think it is."

"No...we really didn't," Two-Bit said in a disappointed tone.

Soda looked at Steve and then back at Two-Bit, "You need to swipe that book."


	10. Chapter 10

"Well..." Steve said as Two-Bit didn't respond right away.

"Um..." Two-Bit looked down.

"Come on Two-Bit, please," Soda begged.

"I don't know..." Two-Bit shook his head, "That was some creepy shit to read."

"Two-Bit..." Steve nudged his friend.

"Steve," Two-Bit groaned.

"Come on Two-Bit," Steve said.

"Man, I wouldn't want to piss off a demon, would you?" Two-Bit asked.

"It doesn't have to know," Soda said quickly, surprised he actually referred to this demon thing as an actual person.

"What do you mean?" Two-Bit asked, "How can we pull that off? I feel like I've already been watched at the library reading it."

"We'll read it here. We won't read it around Ponyboy," Soda added, "That should be fine, right? Can you go back to the library and get it? Just bring it back here."

Two-Bit sighed.

"Come on man," Steve said, "You know if you don't, Soda will go break into that library and get the book himself. And that's all we need is Soda trying to steal when he's losing his mind."

"Aren't we all losing our minds with this?" Two-Bit asked.

"Probably," Soda sighed, "Please Two-Bit? Please?"

Two-Bit looked around as if expecting someone was watching or listening in. "Okay fine. But you guys just stay here so we can get it over with, because believe it or not, this is one item I will probably return after taking it."

"We don't blame you," Steve commented.

"Okay, but one thing guys," Soda said, "Don't tell Darry or Dally or Johnny. Don't tell anyone else. Let's just keep this between us until we know something for sure."

"Good idea," Steve said.

* * *

Steve and Soda both sat outside Two-Bit's house while he left for the library. They were both very anxious. Soda wanted answers, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to hear them. He had already heard from Steve that this demon could just want Pony to do away with himself, and that was stabbing Soda in the chest to think about. It terrified him to think what the solutions could entail.

"You know Steve, the more I think about all of this, the more crazy it sounds," Soda said, "But like you said, I can't get it out of my head either. Something is just telling me it's...real. Something is telling me I can't ignore this. For Ponyboy's sake, I can't just leave it be."

"I know," Steve agreed, "It's just scaring me to believe it. I have no idea how we're suppose to fix this if it is true."

"Well, hopefully the book tells us. Hopefully it's nothing...nothing rough."

Steve looked at Soda, "It'll be okay Soda. We'll figure it out."

When Two-Bit returned, the three greasers hurried back into the house. They were desperate, but no one opened the book right away. They just stared at it in silence as it sat on the table. Even though Two-Bit knew what was mostly in the book, he felt the anxiety as if he had no idea what to expect. Soda couldn't take the silence anymore as he snapped the book.

"How much of this did you actually read?" Soda asked flipping through some of the pages.

"I read a good chunk of it. I looked at each chapter title and read the ones that made sense to what was happening to Ponyboy," Two-Bit explained, "And they matched everything Pony is going through, everything we are going through."

"And you got as far as not letting the demon on about everything? You didn't read ways to get rid of it?" Soda asked. Two-Bit nodded. Soda continued to flip through some of the pages until he found a chapter. "Here Steve, you look at it."

"Why me?" Steve asked putting his hands up.

"I can't read worth shit. Come on man," Soda held the book further out.

Steve took the book slowly, as if something was about to pop out at him. He skimmed the first few pages until he got into some deeper information. "Okay...well, listen to this. It says how there are many different ways to drive a demon out, but each one is a very sensitive process and could damage the host or kill them. So...you shouldn't really be trying one after the other."

Soda gulped, "Go on."

"Well," Steve continued to skim, "There's trying to contact the demon through Ponyboy and forcing him to leave. While Pony is sleeping, or I guess sleepwalking, we try to get him to come out and pour holy water on him or put a cross on him or something religious. We could bless the house with holy water so the demon is forced away. We could...oh God..."

"What?" Two-Bit asked.

Steve gulped, "We fill a bathtub, and put Pony in it while he's asleep. Get him under the water and hold him down, because the demon could fight back. And...hopefully the demon leaves before Pony drowns."

"Oh God," Soda said putting his face in his hands, "I don't know if we can try that without knowing for sure. That's too dangerous."

Two-Bit nodded, "Agreed."

Steve sighed, "Well there is also an exorcism. We get a priest and he performs a ceremonial exorcism to drive the demon out."

"If any priests actually believe us," Two-Bit pointed out.

"That's probably the last resort, because it can be the most dangerous," Steve said.

"These all sound risky," Soda commented, "Especially if we piss this demon off."

"That's pretty much what it says here. Any of theses acts could lead to success or the demon could lash out and attack us or even get a new host. So we need to keep ourselves protected so that the demon doesn't take over one of us next," Steve explained.

"How do we do that?" Soda asked.

Steve skimmed a few lines, "Basically bless our bodies."

Before anything else could be said, there was the sound of constant glass breaking from the kitchen. It caused all 3 of them to jump and yelp. They all stayed in their spots, waiting a good few seconds for the breaking to stop. In the silence, they all looked back and forth at each other.

"What the fuck was that?" Soda whispered.

The boys got up and shuffled into the kitchen. They didn't see anything though. Nothing was broken or on the ground. There was no sign of any broken glass. The kitchen looked fine.

"What the hell?" Steve muttered, "We...all heard that right? That's why we all ran in here?"

"Let's just get out of here," Two-Bit said rushing out with the other two right behind him. They attempted walking away from the house casually, but anyone could see the fast, desperate pace each one carried.

"What was that, huh?" Steve yelled, "I thought if we weren't around Pony, that demon wouldn't know! I thought it couldn't hear us if we were away from it!"

"I don't know the rules Steve!" Two-Bit barked back, "I don't know how the demons work!"

"Well now we're really fucked!" Steve stopped pacing as he threw his arms in the air, "You brought this onto us with your damn curiosity!"

"I was only trying to help!" Two-Bit stopped in his tracks as he reached in his pocket for a cigarette.

Steve walked up and grabbed Two-Bit by the shirt, "Yeah and now you probably screwed Ponyboy! You screwed us! Now this demon is going to get all of us!"

Two-Bit grabbed Steve and shoved him off, "Are you kidding me right now? We can still fix this!"

"I can't believe I acknowledged this," Steve shoved Two-Bit, "I should've told you you were being stupid and to leave it be!"

"Stop it!" Soda yelled, getting between the two, "Steve, it's not Two-Bit's fault! He didn't know what this would do."

"Damnit!" Steve yelled, turning away.

"Just...Just go Steve," Soda said, "Just go away and smoke for a minute. Cool off." Steve walked down the street and got his cigarettes out in frustration. Soda looked at Two-Bit and could see the disappointment in his face. "Two-Bit, it's not your fault."

"I'm sorry Soda. I may have messed this up. Steve has every right to be mad."

"No Two-Bit. There is no way you could have known. I'm not mad at you, at all. Even if this demon does know and is going to mess with this, I think we found ways to fix it and can try them."

Two-Bit looked at Soda, "So, this is it? We are saying this is real?"

Soda looked down and took a deep breath, "Yeah, I am."

When Steve got time to cool off, he walked back over to Two-Bit and Soda. "Sorry Two-Bit," Steve said, "I know this isn't your fault. It's just a lot to take in."

"I know," Two-Bit answered, "It's all good man."

"So...where to now?" Steve asked.

"My place. Where else?" Soda asked.

"I don't know..." Steve replied slowing his walk, "Going into anyone's house right now is obviously not safe."

"What..." Soda quietly asked.

"Soda, you know what I mean," Steve defended himself, "You just saw what happened at Two-Bit's."

Two-Bit jumped in, "Well we can't ignore this. I bet that demon won't let us forget it."

"You guys don't actually think we can do those things right? We aren't capable of that," Steve said.

"But we have to," Soda said near tears, "We have to. We can't leave my little brother like this forever."

"Soda okay, calm down, alright?" Two-Bit said grabbing him by the arm, "Of course we aren't going to leave him like this. Steve?"

Steve sighed, "I-I..."

"Steve!" Soda cried out.

"Okay, okay!" Steve yelled, "I want to help Soda, I do. I just...I want this demon gone, and fast, before it does anything to me." With that, Steve began marching down the street with Soda and Two-Bit walking behind him.

"He's getting nervous," Two-Bit said quietly, "If anything happens to him, he's going to lose his shit."

"I know," Soda said.

When they arrived at the Curtis house, Soda stopped his friends at the bottom of the porch. "Guys, one more thing."

"What?" Two-Bit asked.

"Even though we are sure about all of this being real, I don't want to tell Darry still."

"Why not?" Steve asked.

"He's not going to believe us. I think if we want to fix it quick, we just need to keep it between us," Soda explained, "Something is telling me to keep this a secret. We can't spread the word and have it talked about."

"That's not a bad idea," Two-Bit commented, "Maybe it will help us have the advantage at getting rid of this demon...thing."

They all walked inside quietly, noticing Ponyboy not in the living room. They walked into the kitchen to see Darry heating up another helping of soup.

"Where's Pony?" Soda asked.

"In bed," Darry said turning and looking at the three boys, "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

"What do you mean?" Steve asked with a slight jump.

"You look pale, and sweaty. You guys just look awful."

"We were jogging," Two-Bit blurted out, "Bet them I can jog better." Even Soda and Steve glanced at Two-Bit with the poor excuse.

Darry just shook his head, "Yeah okay, right."

"Do you want me to bring that up to him?" Soda asked quickly changing the subject.

"No I got it. I'm going to my room anyway. You guys mind if I try to take a nap? Can you listen and check in on him?" Darry asked, "He doesn't like being in his room, so he may try to come down here to hang out. Not sure why he doesn't like his room though."

"Sure, we'll check on him," Two-Bit nodded.

As Darry left the kitchen with the soup, Steve nudged at Two-Bit. "Jogging? Fucking jogging?"

Two-Bit shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"Dumbass," Steve smirked.

"Has Darry been trying to find another doctor?" Two-Bit asked.

Soda shrugged sitting at the table, "Not really. One already ran out on us, so Darry wants to try and maybe take him back into our regular doctor."

"And what if that just blows up like the last one?" Steve asked.

"You know, I don't know. I don't have shit planned out, and I doubt Darry does either," Soda complained, "I just want this damn thing out of here. I want this to leave my little brother alone."

"Shh," Two-Bit quickly hushed, "Don't acknowledge it."

At that instant a disturbance was heard. First a scream, then something tumbling. It was Darry. They all heard him yelling, then a few hard steps as if he was running, and a door slam. "Oh God," Soda said hurrying up to the second floor. He almost froze at the top of the steps, unsure of what to expect. His first instinct was to go in his room, because he was unsure of where Darry actually went.

Slowly, Soda walked to his bedroom door. He pressed his cheek ever so lightly on the door and tried to listen in. All he could catch was the sound of a slurp. Soda shook slightly as he placed his hand on the knob. He turned the handle as he heard a cling from the inside. Soda gulped, still shaking. He pushed the door open. There was Pony sitting up at the side of the bed, his back facing the door. Soda gulped once more, ready to ask where Darry went. But then Pony turned slowly, bowl and spoon in hand, halfway full of soup.

Before Soda could ask, Pony said in a deep voice, "You want some too?" Then he grinned wide.

Soda slammed the door shut, feeling a tear drip down his cheek. His mouth hung wide open, nearly gasping for air. That voice was not Ponyboy's. Soda quickly turned ready to find Darry, and noticed the bathroom door was shut. He didn't want to, but he felt his feet carry him to the door and push it open. There was Darry wiping a towel on his face.

"Darry..." Soda whispered.

Darry turned, his face red and almost blistered, "Pony splashed some soup on my damn face!"

Soda quickly got in and shut the door, Pony's words repeating in his head.

_"You want some too?"_

"What..." Soda said.

Darry slid to the floor, "Soda, what is happening to our brother? I...I don't know what to do anymore."

Soda sat down and hugged Darry, "It's okay Darry...everything will work out. I promise."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the long waited update for this story, and any other story of mine any of you read. I have spent the last 5 days packing up, moving into a new house, and unpacking. I'm finally having a relaxing night at the computer, so here we go! Trying to get back on track! Enjoy!

No one dared to go up and get the bowl of soup from Ponyboy. No one knew if he ate it or was just waiting for someone else to burn it with. Darry went on to take his nap, hopefully with no permanent markings on his face. Soda knew in the back of his mind Darry probably wasn't sleeping though. He was listening in to make sure Pony wasn't coming into his room, just as much as Soda was trying to listen for Pony coming out of his room.

"You're sure it wasn't Ponyboy?" Steve asked from his spot in the armchair.

"Guys, that voice was not him. It was threatening me, and he was smiling like he enjoyed it. Even Darry wasn't mad. He was more scared than mad. He wasn't yelling or anything. He was...shaken up. That...it just wasn't Pony. It had to have been that..." Soda was carefully choosing his words as he lowered his voice, "thing."

Steve and Two-Bit felt themselves shake from Soda's words as the front door opened, Dallas walking in. They quickly tried composing themselves.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Dally asked as he seated himself on the couch.

"Just...same old, same old," Soda said trying to remain as calm as possible.

"How's the kid?"

"Not any better," Two-Bit commented.

Dally shook his head, "This is fucked up. How can a doctor not figure out what's wrong? Don't they go to school for like ten years to be able to figure this type of shit out?"

"You'd think so," Steve replied.

"Where's Johnny?" Two-Bit asked running a hand through his hair, trying to change the topic.

"I'm sure he's coming sometime today," Dally answered, "With Pony being sick, he's been spending every night here."

"He's a very brave young lad," Steve commented.

"He's Pony's best friend," Soda put in, "He goes through thick and thin with him." Soda went into thought, wondering if Johnny had noticed anything odd with Pony. He couldn't recall if Johnny had experienced any crazy happenings, especially considering he was willing to be with him all the time.

It was quiet for awhile. The gang was having trouble starting normal shenanigans, especially considering the four that were together in that moment. They were the four that made the most noise and made the biggest mess. They each just sat and were in their own thoughts. The house was becoming the place everyone was too scared to go, but was braving it anyway. They were too concerned about Pony to just ditch the Curtis family.

Everyone's heads turned in unison as someone approached the stairs. Pony was at the bottom of the steps, wrapped in his bed sheets.

"Hey buddy," Soda said walking towards his little brother, "How are you feeling?" Soda did his best to push the fear aside, not wanting the spirit to sense it. Seeing Pony need some comfort was enough for Soda to change his mind's direction of thought.

Pony squinted his eyebrows as if he had a migraine, "My head feels really heavy. I don't remember what I was doing before I took a nap."

Soda sighed, "It's okay Pony. Come lie down on the couch. Nothing happened anyway." Two-Bit and Steve looked at Soda as he lied.

Suddenly Pony dropped on his hands and knees and began coughing. It was dry, heavy coughs. It sounded like he could vomit again, but nothing was coming out. Soda leaned over and rubbed Pony's back. "Relax, let it pass."

Soon, the tables turned on the poor greaser. Pony launched with a slight growl and was soon holding Soda down. Soda felt nails puncture his shoulders, and Pony's eyes went dark. And then that voice came back.

"I'll never pass you!"

In seconds, the other greasers were on their feet. Steve ran over and tried prying Pony off of Soda, but the body wouldn't budge.

"Get off kid!" Dally yelled running over to help. Two-Bit was almost backing up, unsure of what to do or how to react.

Ponyboy threw himself upward, pushing Steve and Dally off, both of them falling to the ground. Neither of them moved, shocked at the strength that had pushed them away. How could they stop him from doing anything with the strength he suddenly possessed? Pony's pale, lifeless face looked down at Soda, who didn't dare move.

"Pony..." Soda whispered. Pony just stared at his older brother. Soda knew better though. This wasn't his little brother staring down at him. A jolt pushed Pony downwards and a splat of blood projected from his mouth onto Soda's face.

"Oh my God! Get him off!" Soda cried out. Pony's body went limp and he fainted on top of Soda. Soda shoved him off and was shaking as he took his shirt off to wipe down his face. "Oh God, Oh God..." Soda whimpered, "Shit..."

"Calm down buddy," Steve said, more to himself than to Soda, "It's okay. G-Go get, get cleaned up in the bathroom."

"No, I think he needs to go to the hospital," Two-Bit suggested.

"Oh come on, are you serious guys?" Dally asked.

"You don't know what could be in that blood!" Two-Bit barked.

"I think you are overreacting just a little," Dally said shaking his head, obviously not wanting to believe the craziness he just witnessed.

Soda took a deep breath, "No, no, he's right. I'll feel better if I go get checked out. Just get Pony off the floor. Get him on the couch please." Soda hurried to the bathroom with Steve following him.

"Let's get him to the couch," Two-Bit said.

"I ain't grabbing him," Dally protested.

"Man, come on!" Two-Bit almost whined.

Dally shook his head and groaned, knowing he was stuck in this. He picked up Pony while Two-Bit gathered the sheets. Dally quickly laid the young greaser on the couch while Two-Bit covered him up.

"Did I get any blood on me?" Dally asked checking his jacket.

"Oh overreacting, huh?" Two-Bit mocked.

"Shut up," Dally groaned.

* * *

In the bathroom, a frightened Soda sat on the toilet while Steve used a wet towel to wipe off the blood.

"You really want to go to the hospital?" Steve asked.

Soda nodded slowly, still taking deep breaths to calm himself, "With what we already know about Pony and this problem, I just want to be safe."

"I get that, believe me I do," Steve began, "But what if there is something in the blood, but the doctors won't find it, because it's this paranormal bullshit?"

"If it's a disease or something, I'm sure they will. I just want to be safe," Soda said.

A knock was heard on the bathroom door, making the best friends jump.

"Soda?" a voice called from the other side.

Steve opened the door and Darry walked in, looking exhausted, but concerned. "Two-Bit told me what happened. Do you want me to take you to get checked out?"

"No I'll take him Darry," Steve said, "You better check on Pony. He kind of passed out after this."

Darry nodded, "He seems okay, just sleeping. Do me a favor though, throw that towel in some bleach or something."

"Sure," Steve nodded. Darry left the bathroom and Steve looked down at Soda. "Do you want to tell him what we know?"

"No," Soda answered quickly.

"He's bound to catch on that something really weird is going on," Steve said quietly.

"Not necessarily. People puke blood. It happens," Soda stood up and checked on himself in the mirror.

"I guess," Steve said, "It just sucks, because Darry's smart. He could help us."

"Steve, I know Darry is smart. He understands things and can figure things out. This is a whole new thing though. He wouldn't know where to begin. He'd use that book as guidance just as we are. I just think if the whole gang knows, that spirit will really fight, just like it did now."

Steve looked down to the floor, "Okay, we can keep it between us three for now. But if things get out of hand, we are asking for Darry's help."

Soda looked over at Steve with raised eyebrows, "Things have gotten out of hand."

* * *

Steve and Soda left for the hospital. They hoped it'd be a quick check up if they could get their story straight.

"It shouldn't be that hard to lie," Soda shrugged, "Just tell them someone got sick with blood on me. Nothing more has to be said."

"You're probably right," Steve said turning his car into the hospital parking lot.

Looking at Soda, Steve could see panic in his eyes. Maybe it wasn't panic over the blood though. Maybe it was more of the fact little Ponyboy took down Soda and did all of that. Steve could feel he was in shock, as he was almost having trouble remembering what he actually witnessed. He couldn't even remember trying to pry Pony off. All he could remember was that he couldn't move Pony an inch. All he remembered was helping Soda clean up in the bathroom.

Steve needed to take a minute to collect himself in the waiting room while Soda sat in the examining room by himself. He was anxious as he sat in silence, waiting for the doctor to enter the room. The door opened and a nurse walked in.

"Hello Sodapop," the nurse greeted with a warm smile, "I know someone came in to ask what was going on today. I'm going to check your vitals for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," Soda said. While the nurse took one of Soda's arms to check his blood pressure, Soda peered down at his other arm, the one that had to be cleaned up from Ponyboy's blood. He felt the cuff tighten on his arm, the nurse continuing to pump it.

"Sheesh," Soda commented at the squeeze. He looked back over and nearly jumped from the bed. The cuff had turned into a skinny hand, grasping Soda's arm. It was pale, and the veins were popping out. It was sick looking.

"Oh my God!" Soda yelled, grabbing at the hand and tugging at it. It wouldn't budge, gripping tighter. "Let go!"

"Sodapop, Sodapop!" the nurse hurriedly undid the cuff and pulled it away. Soda watched as the hand turned back into the cuff. He felt the blood drain from his face. "Are you alright? Did something hurt?"

Soda looked between his arm and the nurse. He glanced at the cuff and felt his stomach jump. He could have sworn...

"Sodapop? Answer me," the nurse placed a hand on his shoulder.

Trying to compose himself, Soda looked up at the nurse and swallowed the lump in his throat, "I'm sorry. I thought I saw something."

"Are you sure you're okay? You look very pale."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I thought I saw something and got spooked is all. I'm sorry I grabbed you," Soda took deep breaths, laying his head against the pillow.

"It's okay. I'll send the doctor in, alright?"

* * *

Steve's leg continued to bounce up and down while he sat in the waiting room. One of the biggest things he was hoping for was Pony would wake up and forget about what he had done to Soda. The kid would be heartbroken and would never forgive himself.

While Steve waited, he stood up and went to the bathroom. At the sink, he washed his hands for the fifth time since cleaning Soda off, and splashed water onto his face as well. Steve stared at himself in the mirror, looking for any signs of damage from the event. Nothing that he could tell.

"Okay, let's just get in there with Soda and help him out," Steve told himself as he turned the water off. Within seconds another sound of water began running.

Steve turned to look at the four stalls. They were all open. He was all alone, and that was a little terrifying. He began hearing water hit the floor from each toilet, one by one. Shivers went down Steve's spine. Before he could hurry out though, every sink faucet turned itself on.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve wasted no time. He hurried over and yanked at the bathroom door. It wouldn't budge. It was like when he tried getting Ponyboy's bedroom door to budge open, but something was holding it closed. "What the fuck?" Steve muttered yanking and turning the door handle with all of this strength, "No man come on. I'm not even near the kid!" As he gritted his teeth in anger, he heard drops on the floor. Slowly turning around, he could see the sinks filling themselves up with no plugs, and they were beginning to drip onto the floor.

"Oh no," Steve said. He tried the door again. Nothing.

"No, no, no," Steve panicked and began banging on the door, "No! Help me! Somebody help me!"

Steve turned to look for a window, but there was none. "Oh my God, someone help!" he screamed. One by one, each sink faucet broke off and water was spraying upwards with full pressure, as high as the ceiling.

"Somebody please!" Steve screamed hitting the door with all of his might. Fear and desperation filled him as two drops of water fell onto his hand and arm. His eyes widened. He slowly looked up and couldn't believe what he was witnessing. The water appeared to be crawling along the ceiling and beginning to rain down on him.

Before Steve could think of another plan, all four toilets began projecting water towards the ceiling. It was seconds before the floor had a small layer of water piling. Steve could feel tears run down his face. He was frightened. "Help me!" Steve screamed, "Help! Help! God damn it somebody please help me!"

Steve hurried around the bathroom trying to find anything that could help break the door down. He could feel the rainfall become a pour. He felt the water rising up his ankles towards his knees. Panic rose and Steve was crying by now. "What the fuck," he muttered, "Stop it!" Steve yelled as if he were calling out to someone who was causing this. All he could think was the demon was doing this. The demon was somehow with him.

"Stop it!" Steve screamed, "Stop it right now! Go away!" Steve felt something slam against his leg and he collapsed face first into the pool. He quickly sat up, gasping for a breath. He could feel a slight blood trickle on his face from slamming into the tile floor. "Shit," Steve said grabbing his face. He tried getting up, but the force came again and slammed him down. The water was rising faster and faster. Steve crawled back over to the door and helped himself up onto his feet. The water was at his knees.

Steve took in as deep of a breath as he could, but before he could scream, his feet gave out. He was right against the floor, his entire body under water. This time he couldn't get up. He was being weighted down. Steve couldn't break the surface that was just inches from him.

* * *

Looking around the waiting room, Soda saw no signs of Steve. The first placed he guessed was he was in the bathroom, so Soda took a seat to wait. He was finally starting to calm down from his experience with the nurse. The nurse had to go back in too for blood drawing. She seemed shaken up, and it made Soda feel terrible for his freak out over something that wasn't even there. He apologized to her plenty, but she kept insisting it wasn't the worst scare she's ever been through. Her actions appeared to tell a different story though. Soda would have to wait for the results of his blood draw, but he felt thankful that the doctor couldn't find anything wrong from what he could see right now. Just to be safe for the worst the blood could show, he did give Soda a shot. Soda would definitely take a shot though over any other possibility.

Steve was nowhere to be seen still. Soda didn't want to sit with his thoughts much longer, as he didn't want to react around people if something popped up that wasn't even there. He was coming to the conclusion the demon wanted him to be scared, so he couldn't allow it. Standing up, Soda headed down the hallway.

Soda found the nearest bathroom and made his way to the door. He swung the door open and nearly jumped. Steve was laying huddled in the corner. He was soaked and was shivering.

Hurrying over, Soda put his arms around Steve, supporting his head that appeared slightly limp.

"Steve? Steve, are you okay?" Soda asked, shaking him slightly. He searched around the bathroom to find the source of Steve being soaked, but couldn't find anything. The bathroom looked fine. Steve began to cough violently before quickly getting himself up on his feet.

"Soda get me out of here!" Steve yelled steadying himself.

"Steve, wait," Soda grabbed his best friend to calm him, "What is going on?"

"Come on, let's just go!" Steve shoved Soda off and hurried out of the bathroom.

* * *

Steve never said another word. He hurried Soda home, and drove away. Soda had no idea what had happened. The obvious answer was something frightened Steve. Something scared him so bad that he couldn't talk about it. That worried Soda bad.

"Hey buddy," Darry walked downstairs finding Soda in the armchair, "When did you get back?"

"About an hour ago," Soda replied without looking up, "He stayed asleep the whole time too." Darry glanced at the couch where Soda was motioning towards Ponyboy.

"How did it go?" Darry asked.

"Got a shot, that's all," Soda said continuing his stare to the floor, "Got my blood drawn just in case, but the doctor doesn't think it's anything to cause concern."

Darry took a seat on the floor, looking up at his little brother, "What else is going on?"

"Steve won't talk to me. He dropped me off then went straight home," Soda simply answered. He looked at Darry's face. It was still a little red, but it didn't look like any serious damage was done.

"Did you guys have a fight?" Darry asked confused.

"No. I have no idea what happened. I got out of the room and found Steve in the bathroom. He...," Soda briefly paused, carefully deciding what he wanted to reveal to his older brother, "He was just troubled. He was scared of something. He hurried out before telling me anything. He wouldn't talk to me the whole ride back either. I don't know what's going on."

"Maybe he's just getting really worried about all of this," Darry suggested, "He's getting stressed." Soda just nodded. He wasn't ready to tell Darry about the idea of the demon. He didn't have the energy or motivation to try and convince Darry.

"Just give him space tonight," Darry added, "He'll come around little buddy."

Soda shook his head, "I don't know Darry. Something happened. Something that scared him, bad. He's stunned from whatever it was."

Darry stood up, patted Soda's knee as he was unsure what else to say, and headed back upstairs to clean up for dinner. Soda turned to look at Pony. This was out of hand. Soda couldn't take it anymore. This demon or whatever it was had to go. It was hurting his brother and now drove away his best friend, probably scarring him for life. Soda stood up from the armchair and took a few steps towards the stairs. He didn't hear Darry coming back down yet.

Soda walked over to the couch, and looked down at the possessed body. He leaned over and whispered, "It's time to go."

* * *

It was dinnertime. Pony was at the table with his older brothers trying to eat the spaghetti Darry had made.

"How are you feeling?" Darry asked, clearly avoiding the topic of what Pony had done to him earlier that day with the soup, "You've been sleeping a long time now."

"I don't know," Pony said taking in a few noodles in his mouth, "I feel rested and actually quite awake for once. But I do have a throbbing headache. I'm hoping this food helps."

"You can take some medicine for that after dinner. Maybe it's a breakthrough of some kind," Darry said, trying to sound hopeful.

Soda wasn't hearing anything his brothers were saying. He was eating slowly. He could tell Pony was talking, not the demon. He could tell Pony was himself in the moment. That's not how Soda was seeing him though. He was staring Pony down. Technically, he was staring the demon down. He could picture the demon staring back at him. He was ready to take this demon on. He was ready to confront it.

* * *

Soda didn't go to sleep. He was sitting on the couch watching TV. Darry had gone up to bed. Ponyboy was in bed. Soda waited for them both to be in a deep sleep. He had plenty of patience, not a care in the world how many hours into the late night it would take. Deep in thought, he was prepared for a struggle, but was going to fight to the end for his little brother.

Time had come and gone as Soda got up from the couch and glanced at the clock on the side table. It read two in the morning. Both brothers should be in a deep sleep. If anyone was awake and about to do anything, it'd be the demon. That was perfect for Soda. That's what he wanted to confront.

Quietly going upstairs, Soda walked to the end of the hall and glanced inside Darry's bedroom. He was fast asleep. Soda grabbed the door handle and slowly closed it. He wanted the advantage of not waking Darry up. He wouldn't understand what Soda was about to do anyway.

Walking back down the hall, Soda entered his own room. Ponyboy was asleep, tucked under the covers. Soda wasted no time to think. He didn't want to scare himself out of it. He had to keep with the motivation he had, and just do it.

Soda slid his arms under Pony and lifted him up. He felt his heart sink at the low weight Pony was. 'It'll all be over soon,' Soda thought to himself. Carefully, he carried Pony downstairs and laid him on the couch. Pony didn't move at all. Soda got him covered up and hurried into the bathroom. He turned on the bath water and began filling the tub.

Closing the door down to a crack, Soda walked back out into the living room. He knew he'd only have minutes to make this happen, and hopefully successfully. Soda threw the blankets off his little brother and lifted him back up. He wasn't going to bother removing the clothing. That wasn't worth the hassle for the fight that was about to take place.

Reentering the bathroom, Soda kicked the door closed. He looked down at the tub that was halfway full of water. This was it. It was now or never. Soda felt his heart begin to race, but he thought about all the demon has caused, and let the anger take over instead. Dropping down to his knees, Soda leaned over the edge of the tub, and lowered Pony into it. His eyes stayed closed to Soda's relief. Soda reached over and turned off the running water. He placed his hands over Pony's shoulders.

"It's time to go," Soda said out loud as he pushed the body downwards. The force caused a bit of a splash as some water flew down to the floor. Soda ignored it though as he kept his grip. "You're doing this for Pony. You're doing this for Pony. You have to." Soda felt tears come to his eyes as he realized what he was doing. He couldn't let go though. He wouldn't. It had to be done.

As the water settled down, Soda glanced at Pony and saw his eyes were wide open. It made Soda jump, and Pony's body forced itself upward out of the water.

"Nice try," the deep, scratchy voice said through a terrifying smile.

"No," Soda grunted grabbing Pony's body and pushing down again. Then it happened. Soda had anticipated it. A fight broke out. Ponyboy's body began thrashing all about, causing large splashes to fly all over the bathroom. Soda just focused on his own grip, keeping the body down. It was becoming difficult. Pony's hands grabbed onto Soda's and nails began digging.

"Ahhhh!" Soda groaned at the pain. He couldn't take it anymore. The pain became too much as Soda let go. He fell back onto the floor and felt the stinging on his hands.

"Shit," Soda was out of breath. The splashing continued as Pony slowly broke through the surface. Coughing began to emerge from the tub,

"So-So-Soda," Pony gasped through weak breaths, "Dar-Darry."

"Damnit," Soda gasped rushing to the tub. He grabbed Pony and pulled him above the water. The little greaser coughed violently, water spilling from his mouth. "Pony," Soda cried. He looked down at his little brother as he continued to gasp for air.

"Soda," Pony coughed out.

"Shh," Soda pulled Pony out of the tub and held him on the floor. He reached for a towel and placed it on top of them. "Deep breaths Pony, just deep breaths."

Pony finished spitting up water and began taking slow breaths, "What...What..."

"Quiet baby," Soda hugged Pony tight, "Just be quiet."

"What happened?" Pony whispered, "I...I woke up...I was under water. I was...I was...drowning."

"I know, I know," Soda felt the tears rush down his face.

"Did...Did I do that?" Pony asked, holding onto Soda tight, "Please tell me I didn't do that Soda. Please."

Soda looked over at the tub. He couldn't tell if he had accomplished what needed to be done. Was the demon weakened after that? Was it gone for good? Soda would have assumed the demon would keep fighting, not just return as Pony and let him drown. That would defeat the demon's entire purpose. With that thought in mind, Soda leaned his head back, feeling some relief that it may have worked. Only time would tell, but Soda may have gotten the evil spirit out of his little brother.

"No you didn't," Soda said, kissing Pony's wet hair, "I think everything's going to be okay now though."


	13. Chapter 13

Soda felt good the next morning. He felt relaxed. Even though there wasn't definite proof that the bath routine worked, the vibe in the home seemed calmer. Soda would just have to wait and see. He wasn't sure if Pony would just be right back to normal if the demon was gone, or if it took time for his body to recover. Only time would tell.

The three brothers sat at the kitchen table eating some breakfast. Even Pony was at the table, in a t-shirt and shorts, no blanket wrapped around tight.

"Are you actually hungry this morning?" Darry asked.

"Yeah, more than I have been anyway," Pony responded as he took bites of his pancakes.

Soda smiled at the response. The experience of trying the bath ritual was terrifying, as Soda worried he could have drowned his little brother, but the grateful feeling Soda was being filled with was making it all worth it. He couldn't help, but watch his little brother continue to eat with an actual appetite and not just trying to force little bits of food down. It was comforting to see.

As the brothers got the kitchen cleaned up, Darry pulled Pony close. "Let me feel you," Darry placed a hand on his little brother's cheek and forehead, "Wow, you don't feel as cold."

"I am feeling alright," Pony said, "I just feel weak still."

"Well you haven't eaten well for some time now. But take it easy still, don't rush into eating a lot."

Soda felt relief at Darry claiming Pony felt warmer. He may be able to tell Steve and Two-Bit that he did it. He could tell them he attempted what the book told them to do, and it was successful. The demon was gone. He could tell them everything was going to be okay.

After the boys were ready for the day, they went out to the backyard and began a game of football. Pony's energy had spiked up. He was moving around easily, tossing the ball, and wasn't getting tired fast.

"It's nice to see you up and moving again," Darry said.

"It feels great, believe me," Pony nodded.

After the game, Soda and Pony went upstairs to their bedroom. Soda lay on the bed, feeling exhausted from the game and all the stress he's endured for awhile. It was a lot of weight lifting. "Pony, I'm so glad to see you feeling good again," Soda yawned, closing his eyes as he felt at rest, "It's about time things start getting back to normal around here again."

Pony didn't respond. Soda didn't hear him leave the room or anything. "Pony?" Soda asked, "Did you hear me?"

Still no response. Soda opened his eyes and turned his head. He jumped at the sight. Pony didn't look healthy anymore. He looked pale again with dark color around his eyes. A grim smile came across his face.

"Pony?" Soda asked as he got off the bed, "What the hell is happening?"

"You thought you got rid of me that easily?" Pony asked with a deep voice.

Soda ran. He ran fast. He was half expecting some force to pull him back towards the house, but thankfully nothing happened. Soda was in shock. He was mad. He was upset. He was panicking. What had he done? What made him possibly think he could fight this demon after what it did to him earlier? Soda knew after the attempt he had just made, he had just doomed everyone.

"I pissed him off! Oh God Two-Bit, I ruined everything! Damnit it's all my fault!" Soda cried out. He didn't know where he was running to when he left home, but he ended up at Two-Bit's hoping for answers.

"What are you talking about Soda? Calm down. What happened?" Two-Bit asked shutting his bedroom door.

Soda took deep breaths. He paced the bedroom, nearly pulling his hair out from fear. He felt like he could vomit right on Two-Bit's floor.

"I...I made him mad. I know I did! Pony is screwed because of me!" Soda cried leaning against the wall. He wished the wall would open up and suck him into a new world where Pony was all better, truly all better. He wished the end of the world was happening right now and this would all be over for everyone. He wished he could just save Ponyboy. He only wished, and he couldn't do anything to make it come true.

Two-Bit sat on his bed running a hand through his hair. He looked up at Soda as he continued to have his panic attack. "Soda, what did you do?"

Soda's eyes watered and tears began escaping as he squeezed them shut.

"Soda," Two-Bit said getting up from his bed. He grabbed Soda by the shoulders, ready to shake it out of him. He didn't mean to get rough, but he was getting scared of what Soda could be about ready to admit to him. "Damnit Soda tell me! What did you do!"

Soda shook Two-Bit off. He gulped and took a deep breath. "I tried..." Soda choked on tears, "I tried drowning him Two-Bit." Soda slid himself down to the floor. He couldn't bear look up at Two-Bit's face expression. Hell he didn't deserve to look at another day of sun after this.

"You...you didn't finish it?" Two-Bit asked. Soda shook his head. "How could you not..."

Soda jumped back on his feet, "I thought I did! Pony seemed better this morning. He was eating, he wasn't cold, he was playing football with me and Darry. But then when I was alone with him...it was right back to itself. It...it tricked me."

"Oh my God..."

"None of us can fight this demon, not physically. It's impossible."

Two-Bit punched the wall and began his own pace around the room, "Damnit. Fuck!"

"I'm sorry," Soda muttered, more to Pony than to Two-Bit, "I don't know what I was thinking. I had enough of it, especially after the fact that something happened to Steve at the hospital, and the soup being thrown at Darry. I wanted it done!"

"I...I know..." Before Two-Bit could go on, the phone rang. They both jumped at the sound. Never would they have thought the telephone ringing would scare them, making their hearts leap at who or what could be on the other end. The boys made their way down to the kitchen where Two-Bit answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Two-Bit? It's...it's Dally."

"Dal? What's going on? You sound a little jumpy," Two-Bit commented as he looked at Soda.

"Listen, I'm at a pay phone near Steve's. You have to get down here now. I just need you to come to Steve's now."

"Okay, relax. Soda's here with me. We will be there in a minute. Just stay there."

"Alright, alright. Just hurry."

Two-Bit hung up the phone, "How you doing?"

Soda nodded, "I'm okay. What's going on with Dally?"

Two-Bit shrugged, "He wants us to go to Steve's. I'll just go though. Why don't you stay here and relax?"

Soda shook his head, "Hell no. I know why you think I need the rest, but I'm not being left alone. Besides, something might be wrong with Steve and I need to know. I'll just worry."

Two-Bit knew Soda was right. He grabbed his car keys and they went to get in his car.

"Dally sounded jumpy on the phone?" Soda asked, "That doesn't sound like him."

"What's even worse is I wasn't feeling jumpy at Dally being jumpy," Two-Bit commented.

When they arrived at the Randle house, they found Dally pacing outside. Steve's car was sitting in the driveway. Soda and Two-Bit began to worry. If Dally was on edge, something good must have spooked him. Soda was mad he didn't make Steve tell him what happened at the hospital. Maybe it was going to have something to do with what Dally was about to tell them.

Getting out of the car, neither one of them had a chance to ask Dally anything.

"Just come inside," Dally motioned them up the driveway. Two-Bit and Soda followed Dally inside and up to Steve's room. "Okay, just listen..."

"Where's Steve?" Soda blurted out.

Dally shook his head, "I don't know. I was looking for you guys. Darry said you had left, so I came here looking. His dad wasn't home, so I came up to see if you guys were up here. I found this..." Dally turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Soda felt his stomach leap to his throat.


	14. Chapter 14

"No, no, no!" Soda yelled with fear and frustration. He grabbed his hair and gripped hard. The sight he was witnessing made his nerves jump and he got scared of where his best friend could be.

"What the fuck?" Two-Bit muttered. He wanted to turn away with Soda, but he couldn't get his eyes to move.

Creeping out of the walls in Steve's bedroom were what appeared to be vines. His room was extra dark and appeared grey while thick, black vines were growing out of the walls.

"What is all this?" Two-Bit whispered.

"I don't know man, but don't touch them. I tried and they snapped man," Dally explained.

"What do you mean they snapped?" Soda asked looking back into the room.

"I touched one and it shot towards me!"

Two-Bit and Soda stared at the vines. They watched as the vines appeared to move. They couldn't tell if they were growing or just rearranging themselves closer to the doorway. Or were they not moving at all? Either way, it was spooking them enough.

"Come on, let's go," Dally said shutting the door. The three boys hurried outside. They were shaken and couldn't begin to explain what they had just seen.

"So you came here and saw those?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, it was...I don't even know," Dally shook his head, "It was freaking me out man."

Two-Bit said in a low voice, "This could come after all of us."

"Where is Steve anyway?" Dally asked.

Soda shrugged with frustration, "I don't know. Something happened to him at the hospital, but he wouldn't tell me anything. That was the last time I saw him or heard from him."

"Relax Soda," Two-Bit said, "We'll figure it out. Let's just go find Steve quick, because I don't want him to come home. At least not alone. Unless he was already home when it did this..."

"I don't understand, what the hell are you talking about!" Dally yelled pulling out a cigarette.

Two-Bit and Soda looked at each other. They both knew they were each thinking the same thing. There was no way Dally will believe them. He had just seen evidence of a paranormal happening though, so they couldn't just ignore it and not tell him what they had been suspecting.

"Look Dal," Two-Bit began, "We've been really looking into what could be wrong with Ponyboy. I don't think we have a lot of time to explain or convince you to believe us, so just take this as you want to. We think it could be...paranormal."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dally snapped, "Paranormal? You think this is a fucking ghost?"

"Not exactly," Two-Bit ran a hand through his hair.

"We think a demon could be possessing Pony, and now it's fucking with us," Soda blurted.

Dally looked shocked. He clearly wanted to argue. He waited for Soda or Two-Bit to break into laughter for their joke, but they were stones. "You...You guys are serious?" Dally asked.

"Dead serious," Two-Bit responded.

"You guys actually believe that?"

"Yes Dal, we do," Soda said, "We read about it and everything. We were desperate to figure out what was going on with Ponyboy, and...everything made perfect sense."

"What the..." Dally muttered.

"Look," Soda interrupted Dally's shock, "We know you won't believe us right now, but we don't have time to go over everything we've seen and read. For now just help us find Steve." Two-Bit and Soda could tell Dally was very uncomfortable with what he had just heard. He didn't know how to react.

Shaking his head, Dally said, "Okay, okay. Whatever it is, let's just get away from here. I'm not going back inside that house."

Soda gulped, "I really hope Steve wasn't in there when that happened."

"Don't jump to conclusions Soda," Two-Bit began walking down the street, "Let's just walk into town a little bit."

The three greasers hurried from the Randle household. They hoped the walk would help clear their minds. Soda was desperate to find his best friend and make sure he was alright. His mind was running on endless possibilities of what could have happened to Steve if he was home when those vines appeared.

"Well," Dally began, not wanting there to be silence among them, "Where do we even start looking..." Before he could finish his sentence, a strong gust of wind suddenly began blowing against them. "Oh what now!"

"Just a storm," Two-Bit assured, "I doubt this has anything to do with the demon."

Dally crossed his arms, "I can't believe I'm actually going along with you two on this."

* * *

Back at the Curtis house was Pony, Darry, and Johnny. Pony was sitting up on the couch staring at the TV with Johnny next to him. Darry was in the kitchen reading the newspaper. He felt dumbfounded. Pony seemed back to normal that morning with his appetite and energy, but now he was seeming ill again. It was within minutes too. After football, he saw his little brothers go to their room. Soda left without a word, and that's when Darry found Pony looking white and sickening again. Darry tried not to think too much of it. He was hoping Pony's body was just working hard to get back to one hundred percent. He tried to let the idea of one good morning for his little brother give him some hope. It was hard to hold onto hope though. It had been hard to do that for awhile now.

Darry looked out the window and watched a sudden wind storm begin outside. "Oh Soda you better get home," Darry commented towards himself. He was having trouble shaking it off as an innocent wind storm though. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder if something more was going on with Ponyboy. He wasn't well, and there were some strange happenings going on. The incident of Pony tossing the soup at him really made his mind race, because it wasn't an accident. It happened out of hate, and Darry couldn't think that was Ponyboy wanting to do that. He knew it wasn't Ponyboy. It was all weird, and now suddenly Pony went from seeming better to ill again within a short amount of time. It just wasn't making sense.

"I'm going crazy," Darry muttered to himself, "I'm having these crazy ideas that I can't tell anyone else, because I'll be the one seeing a doctor next."

Shaking his head, Darry got out some bowls and spoons for the soup that was cooking on the stove. He had gone straight into action as Pony got ill and his temperature dropped dramatically, again. He carried two bowls to the living room and handed one to Johnny while setting the other one on the coffee table, not wanting another episode of soup to his face. He looked at his little brother and saw his face being blank.

Johnny and Darry both jumped when they heard something clang onto the floor in the kitchen. Darry noticed Pony wasn't effected by the sudden noise, but ignored it for now as he rushed into the kitchen with Johnny at his heels. They found the kitchen window had blew open and something had knocked the soup to the ground, spilling it's contents all over. Darry knew there was no way wind could have knocked over a pot of soup. There was just no way, and it was only going to bother Darry to figure out what knocked it over. Nothing else had moved in the kitchen.

"Damnit," Darry sighed, closing the window. Johnny got to the ground and began cleaning the spill while glancing outside. There was a branch from a tree banging against the window from the wind. Darry following Johnny's glance nervously, "Maybe I'll cut that before it cracks the window."

"You want to deal with that right now?" Johnny asked.

"It will only take me a minute," Darry said as he stepped out the back door into the strong winds.

* * *

Soda, Two-Bit, and Dally continued their struggling walk through the wind storm. They wanted to keep their eyes down from the wind, but they had to keep looking up for any debris. As if it couldn't get any worse, a strike of thunder roared across the sky making the trio jump.

Soda couldn't take any of it anymore. There was just too much going on. He couldn't get his body to relax. He threw his hands over his ears as tight as he could out of panic. Two-Bit patted Soda on his back, "It's okay! We're almost there!" Two-Bit screamed over the wind.

Before they knew it, Dally tackled them both into the nearest yard as a giant branch crashed down the sidewalk. He lifted them both up immediately and began pushing. "We got to keep moving! Hurry!" he yelled, pushing them along. Soda could feel himself nearly cry. The demon had gotten stronger. It had to be because of his attempt to drown it. He had caused this.

* * *

His blood began curling as he stepped out into the wind. Steve was stepping out of the Tasty Freeze and realized he couldn't be outside long. He was planning to go over to Soda's to hang out, but the weather had other plans. The Curtis house wasn't terribly far, but Steve wasn't sure he was ready to talk to Soda, especially about the hospital episode he encountered.

Another gust of wind hit Steve and a rumble cracked the sky, making him shake. "Well, I can't drive in this," Steve muttered. He reentered the restaurant and just watched out the window, waiting for his chance to get to the car and drive into the neighborhoods.

* * *

Johnny leaned against the doorway that separated the kitchen from the living room. He looked over at Pony. He felt some concern as he noticed Pony's fingers were fumbling under the blanket. He was staring at the television with the blankest expression. Johnny didn't want to ask though.

Glancing to the living room window, Johnny saw the storm getting very aggressive. Debris was beginning to travel down the road. Anyone would think it was a tornado, but something about it just seemed off. Johnny couldn't quite figure it out, but something was telling him this wasn't a tornado or any regular storm. Turning around, Johnny looked out the kitchen window and saw Darry struggling to keep himself steady while cutting the branch.

Johnny turned back around and nearly fell over. Pony had turned to face Johnny. His eyes had gone blank, white, with no pupils.

Quickly, Johnny looked out the living room window again. It was getting darker. Thunder continued to crack across the sky. Another quick turn and Johnny saw Darry struggling to get to the door to get back inside.

He had no idea why he did it, but Johnny's instinct kicked in and he ran to Ponyboy, shaking him as hard as he could. "Pony! Stop this! You have to stop! Ponyboy!" Johnny had no idea what made him think Pony could stop the storm, but he didn't know what else to do. Instantly, the storm got a little quieter. Johnny looked at Pony and saw his eyes going back to normal. They were full of fear though.

"Johnny," Pony's voice trembled, "What happened? What did I do this time?"

Before Johnny could answer, the loudest thunder hit the sky and shook the house. They heard a scream and crash from outside.

"Oh God Darry," Johnny gasped.

"Johnny! Look!" Both boys jumped up and ran to the window. The wind had slowed down, but a large tire was seen rolling down the street.

* * *

"That's a little better," Two-Bit commented as the wind seemed to die down some.

"Let's just get inside somewhere before it starts..." Dally began saying before he was interrupted.

"Guys watch out!" Soda yelled. The three boys stepped to the side as a tire blew right past them, "Oh my God! It's going to hit the Tasty Freeze!"


	15. Chapter 15

The three greasers watched as the tire bounced and crashed into one of the windows at the Tasty Freeze. They thought they were in a dream though as seconds later all the other windows shattered and just broke, glass flying everywhere. The wind began slowing down then. The greasers just stared at the building, wondering if they were just seeing things.

"Wh-What just happened?" Two-Bit asked, "You guys saw that, right?"

"I think so, if I know what you're talking about," Soda let out a breath he had been holding.

Dally's mouth hung open, "I might actually believe you guys."

"That was, uh..." Two-Bit took a hard swallow, "That was an intense one."

The trio walked closer to the scene. The storm had officially died down, but the clouds continued to hover above. People who had been inside the Tasty Freeze were now rushing out. Some were screaming, some were crying, some were yelling at how cool that was. They knew it was probably dangerous to get closer, but it was something you couldn't ignore, especially when you suspected something more was behind it than just an accident. As they made their way to the door, they could hear an employee inside on the phone getting a hold of the police through an operator. Walking inside, the greasers saw a couple of people leaning against the booths, having minor injury to the windows crashing in.

Two-Bit shoved his hands in his pocket and let out a low whistle, "This is crazy. I can't believe..."

"Steve!" Soda suddenly blurted. The other two turned the direction Soda bolted and saw Steve laying on the ground. "Steve, are you okay?" Soda asked. He began looking over his best friend before deciding if he could move him or not.

"Soda?" Steve asked as he opened his eyes.

"Yeah, it's me buddy," Soda grabbed Steve's hands and slowly helped him into a sitting up position, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I think so," Steve grabbed his throbbing head, "It was just...such a blow."

"You're hurt," Soda said seeing a thin stream of blood come down Steve's face from his head, "Let's get you to my house. Darry can see if you need any stitching."

Two-Bit got to the other side of Steve and helped him to his feet. He was a little wobbly as he felt some weakness. Soda and Two-Bit got their arms around Steve and helped him walk out of the Tasty Freeze.

"You know, you guys can just take me home," Steve said, "I can just sleep this off, really." Soda, Two-Bit, and Dally exchanged concerned glances. "What? What's wrong?"

"Just believe me buddy," Two-Bit said, "You don't want to go home right now."

Steve sighed, taking the hint, "Great. Don't even tell me."

Two-Bit and Soda began walking again with a limping Steve, who started grunting with each step.

"Okay this is stupid," Dally said, "You guys just stay here and I'll go get Steve's car. Are your keys in the house?"

"Yeah they are in my room," Steve answered.

Dally froze. "In your room?"

"Yeah, that's where they always are," Steve said.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dally groaned.

"Dal, I'll come with you," Two-Bit said, although he wasn't sure if he wanted to go inside the room either, "Steve you're sure they're in your room?"

"Yes, I don't put them anywhere else," Steve said.

"Damn. I was afraid of that," Two-Bit shook his head.

"Why can't you leave them by the front door like a normal person?" Dally asked as he pulled out a cigarette.

"He likes to think he's sleeping with his car," Two-Bit commented with a smirk. Even with the situation, no one could contain their laughter with that joke.

"Well, Steve and me will wait here," Soda said, helping Steve to sit on a bench outside the Tasty Freeze.

"Okay, well..." Two-Bit began, "Hopefully we'll be back."

Once Dally and Two-Bit got a decent distance away, Steve turned to Soda. "What's going on at my house?"

Soda shook his head, "Something in your room. I don't even know if I can explain it actually." Steve let out a loud groan. He reached into his pockets to light his own cigarette. "So, what happened here? I mean, we saw what happened outside of it, but what happened inside?"

Steve struggled to light his cigarette as his hands became shaky.

"Here," Soda grabbed the lighter from Steve and lit the cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Thanks," Steve said as he took a long inhale, "I was just hanging out here having a shake. I was sitting in one of the booths. This storm started up and I thought about going home, but then it got too strong so I was going to wait it out here. No one was trying to leave."

"It was a bad storm out here. Me, Dally, and Two-Bit were walking in it."

"What the hell were you doing that for?"

"Looking for you actually," Soda shrugged, "We got concerned after we saw your room and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Steve shook his head, curious about his room, but still not ready to hear it, "Anyway, out of nowhere I hear some people yelling to get out of the way. I wasn't sure why. I looked out the window, but couldn't see a damn thing. I saw it too late though. This tire came crashing through the window of a booth next to me. It shook everyone, but then the next second all the windows broke together, like something out of a movie. It felt like some force broke the windows and pushed me onto the ground. I may have blacked out for a second, but I'm not sure."

"Maybe some glass cut your head," Soda said, "It'll be hard to tell with your dark hair."

"I'll be fine. Just need some rest."

* * *

Ponyboy and Johnny hurried out the back as the storm appeared to settle down. They saw Darry sitting on the porch steps.

"Darry!" Johnny gasped reaching the oldest greaser, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Darry said, "Just got knocked into the tree. That storm was something else for sure."

Pony walked over and took a seat next to his older brother, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine buddy," Darry pulled Pony into a small hug, "Let's all get inside in case there's more to come."

As the three got inside, a realization came upon Darry, "Do you guys know where Soda is?"

Johnny and Pony slowly shook their heads.

"I hope he wasn't out in this," Darry looked out the living room window, "Maybe I should go look for him."

"I'm sure he's okay Darry," Johnny said, "You can't be driving out there. It's still pretty dark out there, it's too dangerous to take the chance."

"Why don't you call Steve's or Two-Bit's? Maybe he stopped there for shelter," Pony suggested.

"Or maybe he's in the town and just waiting for a chance to call home," Johnny added in.

"Yeah. I hope he's not hurt," Darry said as he glanced at Pony. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he suddenly wasn't that comfortable being in the house with Ponyboy.

* * *

Dally and Two-Bit arrived at the Randle house. They stood at the end of the driveway, just staring up at the house. They were unsure what they were about to walk into.

"Let's just get in and get out," Dally said taking the first steps towards the front door. Two-Bit reluctantly followed. Slowly, Dally cracked opened the door and peeked inside. He continued to open it more and more as he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The door was wide open as Dally and Two-Bit stepped inside. The living room and kitchen looked normal.

"Just upstairs then," Two-Bit said, shaking out the nerves.

"Let's go," Dally said taking steps towards the stairs.

"Who knew looking for damn car keys would be like stealing something," Two-Bit commented.

"No kidding."

"Except I've never been this nervous to steal something," Two-Bit added on.

Dally and Two-Bit approached the stairs as the front door slammed shut.

"M-M-Maybe the wind picked back up," Two-Bit muttered.

"Just get upstairs and get the damn keys," Dally barked. The two greasers hurried up the stairs and were standing outside Steve's room again.

"Okay on three," Two-Bit grabbed onto the doorknob, "One...two...two and a half...two and three quarters...two and some more fractions..."

"Three," Dally said shoving the door opened.

"Oh my God," Two-Bit gasped.

"What the hell," Dally said quietly. They poked their heads inside the bedroom. The vines had come out of the walls and were wrapped around Steve's belongings. They were around his bed, his dresser, and were beginning to creep around his floor. "Okay just look and find the keys before we go in there."

"Okay," Two-Bit agreed as he scanned the room, "Oh I found them. They're sitting on his dresser."

"Of course they are," Dally groaned, "You go get them. I've already been in here."

Two-Bit sighed, "Fine, fine." He wanted to be quick. He kept his focus only on the keys, hoping not to let anything distract or scare him. Quickly, Two-Bit took the steps towards the dresser. He didn't dare look at the walls to see what the vines were doing. Two-Bit's hand slammed onto the keys, but before he could lift them up, a vine slammed down and grasped his hand.

"Oh no!" Two-Bit screamed.

* * *

"Steve, I need you to tell me what happened at the hospital," Soda said. Steve looked at his best friend. "Please Steve. I can tell it scared you something awful. It pissed me off so bad, that I..." Soda was about to spill what he did to Ponyboy in the bathtub, but he stopped himself.

"You what?"

Soda shook his head, "I tried taking matters into my own hands, but it didn't work anyway. Please Steve, tell me what happened."

Steve looked down, knowing he wasn't getting out of it, "I still think it was some nightmare. While you were getting checked out, I went to the bathroom. But then it happened...the sinks were all on and the toilets were running. The bathroom began flooding. The door was locked. I couldn't get out and I was yelling and banging the door as hard as I could. I just...I was trapped. The next thing I knew is...something..._something _was forcing me to fall down. I didn't just trip, something was forcing me down under the water."

"Oh my God..." Soda mumbled, "You were drowning?"

Steve swallowed hard, "Practically yeah. Next thing I knew the water was just...it was gone. I was soaked, so it had to have been there. But it had vanished...and then you walked in."

"Oh Steve. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"It ain't your fault. And I'm sorry I wouldn't tell you and that I ignored you. It just...it terrified me so bad, I didn't know what to do. I wasn't trying to ditch the kid. I want him to get better."

* * *

"Ponyboy, are you okay?" Johnny asked. The two boys were alone in the kitchen now, and were playing a board game when Pony got up and wandered over to the counter. Johnny thought he was getting a drink of water, but he never heard the faucet turn on. Turning around, he saw Pony standing there, staring at the closed cupboards. "Pony?"

Pony didn't budge. He raised his hand and slammed it down on the counter, as if he was trying to grab something. Lifting his hand up, he did the same thing again. Over and over, Pony raised his hand and slammed it down on the counter. He never looked down or said anything.

"Pony," Johnny got up from his seat and tried stopping him, but Johnny couldn't move him at all. "Pony what is going on man?"

* * *

"Dally, it's grabbing me!" Two-Bit yelled, "Help me!"

Dally ran in, sliding his blade out from his back pocket. Flipping it open, Dally swung down and stabbed at the vines.

* * *

"Ah!" Pony suddenly screamed. He grasped at his hand as if he was in pain.

"Darry!" Johnny yelled, "Darry, come here quick!" Like lightning, Darry ran down the stairs and hurried into the kitchen.

"What happened?" By now, Pony was holding his hand under running water. "Pony, what did you do?"

"I don't know," Pony whimpered, "I don't know what I was doing, I thought I was sitting at the table with Johnny. But I guess I was standing up, and I got this pain in my hand out of nowhere."

"What was he doing?" Darry asked, turning towards Johnny.

"We were playing this game, and he got up and went to the counter. He just stood there, and then he started slamming the counter with his hand. I couldn't get him to stop, and then he screamed," Johnny explained.

"Maybe you slammed your hand too hard," Darry said shutting off the water.

"I don't remember..." Pony said in a low voice.

"I know buddy, I know. It's...oh my God Ponyboy," Darry said pulling his hand over for further inspection. The back of Pony's hand and wrist had marks on them. They were fresh cuts with slight blood forming. "That...can't be right. Was he slamming his palm down on the counter?"

"Yeah," Johnny replied.

Darry showed Johnny the hand, "It looks like he has cuts on the back of his hand."

"D-Darry, what's happening to me?" Pony pleaded.

"Shh, it's okay," Darry pulled his younger brother into a hug, "Let's just get this cleaned up."

* * *

Two-Bit and Dally watched as the vines backed off.

"Grab them!" Dally yelled, blade ready to strike again. Two-Bit snatched the car keys and ran for the door, Dally right behind him.

"Wait," Two-Bit said looking behind him, "Look."

The two greasers watched as the vines sunk back from Steve's belongings, back through the wall, and disappeared altogether.

"Come on Two-Bit, let's go!" Dally yelled, snatching Two-Bit's arm to snap him out of it, "Go!" Two-Bit turned and they ran down the stairs. They both heard a slam as the bedroom door slammed shut on it's own. Dally swung the front door open and the two greasers ran down the driveway as the front door slammed shut behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

Soda watched as Steve's car rushed up to the bench they sat at. He didn't want to ask Dally or Two-Bit what had happened, but he could tell it wasn't good. He helped Steve into the backseat and climbed into the other side.

"I'm fine to drive," Steve argued.

"You can barely walk," Soda shook his head.

"I don't need to take steps to drive."

"Just shut up and let Two-Bit drive."

Steve rolled his eyes, not liking being told what to do. "Two-Bit, you crash my car and I will kill you," Steve warned.

"You don't have much say in anything right now buddy," Two-Bit said with a shaky tone. Soda could tell he was trying to hide fear with humor, but it wasn't working too well.

"Let's just get to my house in one piece," Soda said.

"Don't jinx it," Dally said running a hand through his hair.

* * *

Darry finished fixing Ponyboy's cut up. He still couldn't figure out what had caused the cut on his little brother's hand. It made no sense to what he was doing, and there wasn't a knife or anything sharp in sight. He tried to let it go, but there was no end in sight on the anxiety from it. He was beginning to feel uneasy just bandaging Ponyboy up. He was half expecting something to happen or Pony to jump at him with that deep, evil-like voice.

"Darry, I'm feeling really tired all of a sudden," Pony said as he sat on the toilet seat, looking down at his bandaged hand.

"I'm sure you are," Darry replied as he finished washing his hands, "Why don't you go lay down? I'm sure you desperately need a nap."

"That sounds like a good idea," Pony nodded as he stood up. Darry felt a shiver go up his spine as Pony brushed past him to leave the bathroom.

"You have to get yourself together," Darry quietly said to himself.

Darry looked at himself in the mirror, noticing how pale and shaken up he looked. "Damn," he muttered. He couldn't believe how much this was all getting to him. As he left the bathroom, he walked down the hall towards the stairs. He stopped at the bedroom door and peeked inside, seeing Ponyboy under the covers in a deep sleep. That made Darry feel a little better, for now at least. He walked downstairs and saw Johnny standing at the living room window.

"How's it looking outside?" Darry asked.

"It looks fine now," Johnny commented, "Is Pony okay?"

"Yeah, his cut isn't too deep."

"It's...the strangest thing, huh?"

Darry slowly nodded, "Very."

"Do...you have an explanation?"

Darry didn't like to admit it as his answer made him feel lost and like a failure, "No."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"I hope Soda's okay," Darry said. He felt bad Soda kept slipping his mind, but Pony was distracting him from worrying about Soda's whereabouts. Darry was barely thinking about the worst scenario Soda could be in right now. Even if he was thinking about that, he wouldn't be rushing out to look. There was just no energy, and there was no way he was leaving Ponyboy alone. The two boys walked outside on the front porch to check out any damages from the storm. There didn't seem to be too much besides random debris in the yard.

"That looks like Steve's car," Johnny said pointing down the road. The car pulled up to the house and the remaining greasers piled out. Darry felt relief seeing his brother walk out unharmed. He wasn't feeling relief as everyone's faces looked like they had gone through a horrifying experience. Darry was questioning was it an experience from the storm, or something more?

"Steve, are you feeling okay?" Darry asked, "Two-Bit drove your car."

"Don't remind me," Steve muttered.

"He got hurt from the storm," Soda commented with an arm around his best friend, "Can you check his head for glass? There was an accident at the Tasty Freeze."

"Sure," Darry walked closer and took over helping Steve, "I'll just be doctor for everyone today."

"Why? Did something happen to Pony?" Soda asked as he followed Darry and Steve into the house.

"I'll have to explain later." Steve and Soda did not like that answer. Darry sat Steve on a kitchen chair. "So what happened at the Tasty Freeze?"

"Well, we probably have the same answer you just said," Soda shrugged, "It's hard to say."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Did you get hit with glass too?"

"No," Soda shook his head, "We were outside. Steve was in there."

"You were walking in this storm?" Darry asked.

"It wasn't our fault! Dally, Two-Bit and me were walking and the storm started up. We didn't choose to walk in it."

"Ouch!" Steve yelped reaching up to grab at his head, "Shit."

"Sorry," Darry apologized, "I got a piece out of a cut. It's not bleeding too bad though."

"Anyway," Soda went on, "A tire flew down the road and crashed into the Tasty Freeze. So, some glass flew in there where Steve was."

"Well, that's not all," Steve said as he winced at Darry messing around his hair, "_All_ the glass broke."

"What do you mean?"

"It was weird, the tire broke in and then every window broke in. It was...it wasn't right. It wasn't natural or because of the storm."

Darry took a breath as he began flashing back to what happened to Pony, how unnatural that had been too.

"What happened to Pony?" Soda asked. Darry didn't answer right away as he stared away into Steve's head. "Darry? Dar?"

"Huh, what?"

"Is something wrong?" Steve asked.

"No, sorry," Darry shook himself out of his trance, "What did you say?"

"I asked what happened to Ponyboy," Soda repeated himself.

"Oh, well him and Johnny were just in here hanging out. All of a sudden Pony was just slamming his hand up and down against the counter, he yelled, and the back of his hand was cut. It was just bizarre, because he wasn't hitting the back of his hand against anything," Darry explained. Steve looked at Soda, who had gone pale.

"Soda?" Steve asked.

"Yeah buddy?"

"I think you should just tell Darry," Steve said.

"Tell me what?"

Soda looked at Steve, "You couldn't tell me that in private?"

"No," Steve let out a small smile, "Because now you have to tell him."

"Soda, what's going on?"

Soda sighed as he glared at his best friend, "Well, prepare yourself for this crazy idea..."

* * *

Dally, Two-Bit, and Johnny stood outside, each with a shaky cigarette in hand.

"Were you guys out in this storm?" Johnny asked.

Two-Bit nodded, "We were looking for Steve, and the storm started up while we were walking. We didn't get hurt though."

"Barely," Dally mumbled. He was pushing the visions of those vines as far back in his head as possible. Dally didn't spook easily, or get jumpy over little things, but this was bothering him. It was driving him crazy to find an explanation for it all. He could barely remember using his blade to stab the vines. It couldn't have been his imagination. Two-Bit was being held down by those things. He was stuck, and Dally felt the resistance as his blade had came in contact with the vines. As much as he wanted to just leave and go find something to do for the night, his curiosity was keeping his feet planted at the house.

* * *

As Soda finished his explanation for Pony's health, he was surprised to see Darry not giving him a stupid look. In fact, he continued checking Steve without missing a beat, just nodding along to Soda's words.

"So...yeah," Soda finished, giving Steve a low shrug.

Darry sighed, "I don't see any more glass Steve, but you do have a little bump, so that might be why you're a little out of it. I'll get you some medicine and you can go lay down."

"Thanks," Steve furrowed his eyebrows towards Soda, "So...what do you think of what Soda said?"

"Well...it's actually kind of relieving."

"Relieving?" Soda asked, shockingly, "You're going to bring us to a room at a mental hospital aren't you? You just aren't going to let us in on that. As soon as we walk out, you're getting on the phone to call a doctor for us."

Darry sat down at the table, sliding a couple pills towards Steve. "You guys, I've been seeing everything going on with Ponyboy. Watching what he does, listening to how he talks, just everything. I've thought about that too...but I kept thinking I was losing my damn mind. Hearing that you guys think this too, well..."

The front door opened and the three greasers entered the house. "How's Steve?" Dally asked.

"Just a bump," Steve said slowly getting up from the table, "I'm going to crash on the couch."

"I'll go check on Ponyboy," Johnny said as he headed towards the stairs. He stopped as everyone gave him crazy, fearful looks. "What? I'm just going to lay down with him."

* * *

The gang stuck around the rest of the day. Two-Bit helped Darry and Soda clean up branches and garbage from the storm. Dally sat in the living room watching TV while Steve was resting. No one was keeping up with much conversation though. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing, but no one was going to dare talk about it. No one was sure what to talk about with it, let alone how to begin to solve it. Soda wanted to talk to Darry more about the paranormal idea in private, but couldn't find the time to do it. Maybe he was too scared and was avoiding the opportunity on purpose. Part of him wanted to admit to Darry he had tried drowning the demon, but didn't want to work backwards in finding a way to fix his little brother. Dally, Two-Bit, and Johnny eventually left for the night. They promised to be back in the morning to check on everything. Steve decided to sleep on the couch while he was still feeling a little off.

It was the middle of the night. Darry felt himself waking up, but something felt off. He wasn't sure why, or what could be waking him up. He slowly felt his eyes opening up. Blinking a few times, he let his eyes adjust to the dark room with only the moon shining in through the window. He couldn't see anyone in the room. His door was open as he had left it. He didn't feel alone though. He was about to get up to go check on his brothers and Steve, but nothing moved.

His arms wouldn't move, his legs wouldn't move, he couldn't roll over. He was stuck, laying on his back. All he could move was his head back and forth.

"What in the..." he muttered. He could feel his heart begin to race, but he slowed himself. "Hold on, maybe it was a dream, just relax." Darry took three long, deep breaths. He let the air slowly exit him. It was relaxing he could feel his chest rise and fall on it's own. "Okay, you're okay. You're fine."

Darry tried to get up again, but he couldn't. Nothing was moving. His head could move, but everything else was stuck to the bed. Suddenly, he felt something against him. A weight was pressing on his body, and it was slowly getting heavier and heavier. "Oh my God," he said. He didn't want to wake anyone, but he needed help.

Right before he was going to yell for Soda, he heard another cry.

"Soda! Sodapop, I need help!"

It was Steve.

"St-Steve!" Darry yelled. His room wasn't as close to the stairs as Soda and Pony's room, so he tried yelling as loud as he could.

"Darry!" Steve yelled back, "Help me!"

"I c-can't!" Darry yelled, "I'm...I don't know what's going on! I'm stuck!"

"Soda!" Steve yelled with more desperation.

"Sodapop!" Darry yelled at the top of his lungs. The fact Soda wasn't responding put Darry and Steve in more panic. "Soda, come on buddy!" Darry was hearing cries coming from Steve, but no more words were escaping him. "Steve! Keep talking to me buddy, what's going on?"

"There's...something on the floor!" Steve cried, "They're staring at me!"

"Steve! Steve! They...they probably aren't real! Just jump...just get to the stairs! Get up here!" There was no response. Darry waited until he heard a loud thud. "Steve! Are you okay!" Darry heard more thumping up the stairs and towards his room. The hallway light turned on and the door flew all the way open.

"Steve!" As Darry yelled, his body flew up into a sitting up position. He was able to move again.

"Oh Darry," Steve hurried over to the bed and flew into Darry's arms.

"I-I couldn't move," Darry pulled Steve close, "I was stuck."

"Something was on the floor," Steve said in a panic, "They were getting closer to me. I jumped to the stairs and ran as fast as I could. I didn't look back at all."

"I-I-I don't know what it was, but something was on top of me," Darry said. He felt his body shake from fear. "I couldn't move anything. I couldn't get up until you ran in here. I was about to scream for Soda to come help until I heard you yell for him too."

"Oh my God," Steve suddenly looked up, "Why didn't Soda answer us?"


	17. Chapter 17

Even with panic and concern for Soda, Steve and Darry walked slowly towards the door. Soda and Pony were on the other side of the closed door. Any other night, Darry would be barging through. What he just witnessed though, being stuck down by an invisible force, was scaring him stiff. Both Darry and Steve stopped and just stared towards the door, waiting for the other to make the first move. They both were thinking the first move might not even be by either of them.

"Well, alright then," Darry quietly said as he raised his fist and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Darry wanted to believe his little brothers were just sleeping, so he knocked louder. Still nothing. "Sodapop?" Darry called out, "Ponyboy? Are you guys alright?"

"Come on guys," Steve softly begged, wanting to hear someone answer.

Darry grabbed onto the doorknob, and turned it. He didn't open the door right away as he waited for something supernatural to happen anytime they took another step. He took a deep breath, and let out a silent prayer. Putting pressure on the knob, Darry pushed the door open. Both greasers had their eyes shut tight.

"Darry? Steve? What are you guys doing?"

They opened their eyes at the normal voice, realizing they probably looked ridiculous.

"Oh Soda," Darry sighed, "You're alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Soda rubbed his tired eyes, "What are you guys doing? Did Pony have a nightmare or something?"

"We wish," Steve shook.

"What is it? What happened?" Soda asked realizing something out of the ordinary must have happened. He wasn't going to be that upset if he slept through it.

Darry felt relief as he saw a sleeping Ponyboy next to Soda. "Just thought we heard something," Darry lied, "Nothing's wrong. Just go back to sleep."

"Well okay," Soda said, knowing he was lying, but was too tired to question it at the moment.

Darry didn't close the door all the way as him and Steve got ready to return to bed.

"At least they're okay," Darry said.

"Yeah," Steve sighed. He watched as Darry turned to return to his bedroom. "Darry..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you...mind a, uh...roommate tonight?"

"I'm kind of glad you asked."

* * *

Soda barely slept after his brother and best friend went back to bed. He doubted they slept well either. He was curious what happened, but also scared as he kept looking at Pony the rest of the night to make sure he wasn't up or trying to leave. As everyone else got up for the morning, Ponyboy didn't wake up for breakfast. When Darry went to shake him awake, he said he was exhausted and needed more sleep. Darry wasn't worrying to question it.

"Yeah, he was up late causing the stuff from last night," Steve commented on the matter. Darry didn't disagree or argue Steve to be quiet. He didn't have much energy to carry on the conversation anyway. After breakfast, Soda and Steve grabbed a couple baseball gloves and a ball. They walked into the street to toss the ball back and forth.

"So what really happened last night?" Soda asked as he threw the baseball towards Steve.

Steve caught it in his glove, not sure if he was ready to revisit last night, "It was the weirdest thing. The scariest. Damn this thing just likes messing with me."

Soda felt bad asking. Steve went through the hospital experience, and now whatever happened last night. Darry was also effected last night. And it's main target seemed to be Ponyboy overall. This thing was making Soda more and more anxious as it messed with everyone he loved. "What was it?"

"Well, I woke up to this...noise. It was hard to hear, but it was piercing too. I opened my eyes and there were these...I don't even know what they were."

"What did they look like?"

"These black...shadows? But they looked like people, I could see a head, arms, and legs. But they looked like shadows of people, I guess. God I don't know. They were slowly crawling towards the couch, so I screamed. As soon as I screamed, Darry yelled my name. I thought he heard me and was coming to check on me, but he couldn't..."

Soda looked worried, "What do you mean he couldn't?"

"He was stuck. I don't know, I wasn't there obviously, but he said he was stuck. He couldn't move anything. We were calling for you, but you didn't answer. I finally jumped to the stairs, because I was too scared to get down to the floor. I ran upstairs, and once I got in Darry's room, he could move again I guess."

"And then you guys came to check on me?" Soda asked.

"Yeah," Steve nodded, "We had no idea why you couldn't hear us."

"I-I didn't hear a thing," Soda shrugged nervously, "I'm so sorry. I feel like shit."

"It's not your fault Soda. I'm sure that thing had something to do with that."

Soda nodded, "I still feel horrible I didn't help you guys. I don't like sleeping with Pony. I know that sounds harsh, but it scares me. And now that you say all that happened last night, and I somehow didn't hear a thing, well..."

Steve sighed, "I know buddy."

* * *

After playing baseball didn't calm their nerves enough, Soda and Steve went for a walk.

"So," Soda said, "I think we need to make some big moves here."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we need to look into an exorcism."

Steve stopped in his footsteps and just stared at Soda, unsure if he heard him correctly, "You're serious?"

"Steve, I don't know what else to do!" Soda yelled, "A priest would believe us more than some doctor, and a priest would do what needs to be done!"

"I mean," Steve shoved his hands in his pockets, "I guess, but...that book said those can...turn ugly real quick."

"I don't care. We need to fix this, we need to stop this. Doing something drastic is what we need, because this demon is going to keep throwing drastic things at us!"

"I...guess so. We're close to Two-Bit's, let's talk to him about it."

"Fine," Soda said, "But just so you know, I'm looking into it with or without you guys."

"I'm not going to ditch you Soda. I'll be there with you," Steve said, "I just didn't expect you to jump to that idea."

"I know. I'm sorry, I'm on edge and I don't want to toy around with other options. I just want to go straight to the source, a priest or pastor or whatever."

"Makes sense. Do you know any pastors?"

Soda shrugged, "I know we have a local church. We can start there."

The two boys walked to Two-Bit's house and approached the front door.

"Soda?" Steve said before knocking.

"What?"

"You do realize...you do remember...exorcism can cause..."

"Death," Soda finished it for Steve, "I know. But what choice do we have? The demon could just kill Ponyboy itself when it wants to. We may be running short on time."

Steve nodded, "I just wanted to make sure you remember what we could be getting ourselves into."

"Like I said, what choice do we have?"

Steve knew Soda was right. They could try other options and push things to an impossible point, or go to the best option and take the risk. They knocked on the door and waited in silence.

"Hey guys," Two-Bit greeted, "I can't imagine you have any good news walking here."

"It's not just that," Soda said, "We were on a walk anyway."

"Well come on in," Two-Bit stepped to the side while the boys walked in, "What's going on now?"

* * *

Dally and Johnny arrived at the Curtis house. "Hey Darry," Dally greeted as he walked in, "Where's Soda?"

"I'm not sure. Him and Steve went outside and I saw them start leaving. Maybe they went to the park or something. What are you guys doing here?"

"Just checking in," Dally said, "Johnny wanted to come check on the kid."

"He's been sleeping all morning. I'll go try and get him up again and maybe you two can play cards or something."

Darry walked upstairs. He was feeling his skin crawl as he was unsure if he was about to walk into anything.

"Pony?" Darry said as he gently knocked on the door, "Come on buddy, it's getting late in the day. You got to try and get up and eat something." There was no answer. Darry turned the knob and pushed the door open. Pony was still fast asleep under the covers. Darry walked over and sat on the bed, brushing a hand through his little brother's hair.

"God you are freezing," Darry said, noticing the white color taking over Pony's face, "Come on Pony, let's get up buddy."

In that instant, Pony's body began shaking slightly. Darry thought maybe he was shivering, but then it got worse. His body shook violently, his eyes fluttered at a fast pace, and his lips became moist as sudsy liquid slithered out.

"Oh my God," Darry ran out of the bedroom and called out, "Dally! Johnny! He's having a seizure!"

* * *

"Soda...are you sure?" Two-Bit asked to Soda and Steve's news of trying an exorcist.

"I feel like we have no other choice guys!" Soda blurted out, "We can keep trying other shit, but this thing is just going to keep fighting back and winning!"

"How do we tell Darry?" Two-Bit asked, "It's not like we can just sneak Pony out of the house to find a exorcist."

"After last night, I'm sure he'll go for it," Soda replied, watching Steve go pale at the memory.

"I don't want to know," Two-Bit shook his head, "Should we go then?"

"Yeah. I'm going to use the bathroom first," Soda said as he walked upstairs. As Soda closed the bathroom door behind him, he switched on the sink and began splashing cold water on his face. He couldn't believe he was actually going to try and go with his plan. He couldn't believe he actually said it out loud. It was on his mind all night and that morning, but when he actually said it out loud, it felt like a real plan. He couldn't take this anymore though. They couldn't just wait for it to go away on it's own, because it won't go away on it's own. "We just have to do it. Now or never."

* * *

Dally and Johnny hurried upstairs and circled around the bed. "Don't we have to wait for it to pass?" Johnny asked.

"Shouldn't we be taking him to the hospital?" Dally asked.

Darry shook his head, "I have a feeling neither of those are options."

"So what do we do?" Dally asked as he watched the youngest greaser continue shaking.

Darry thought fast, "Go in my parent's old room. There's a cross hanging on the wall. Go get that."

Johnny wasted no time as he hurried out of the room and down the hall. He ran into the bedroom, looked around quickly until he found the cross, and took it off the wall. Rushing through the door, Johnny hurried back into Pony's bedroom and handed Darry the cross.

"What are you thinking of doing?" Dally asked.

"I have no idea, but anything is worth a try," Darry said.

* * *

Soda glanced up as he thought he felt a rumble. The lights dangling above the mirror slightly shook. "Oh come on," Soda groaned. He turned towards the door and grabbed the doorknob, but it didn't budge. "No, no, no," Soda panicked as he pulled on the door, "Steve! Two-Bit!"

Downstairs, Steve and Two-Bit were experiencing it too. The house appeared to be shaking, like an earthquake. "Hold onto something," Two-Bit said as he slowly got to the floor, holding onto the couch.

"Oh Jesus, please no," Steve sat on the floor, leaning against the back of the couch.

"Steve! I can't get out! Two-Bit!" As soon as Steve heard Soda yell, he got back to his feet and hurried to the stairs. Before he could place his foot on the bottom step, a force pushed him back to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Two-Bit asked with a shaky voice.

"I think so," Steve replied, not bothering getting back to his feet.

Soda brought himself to the floor in the bathroom. He placed his hands against the walls, hoping to keep himself grounded from the growing shakes. The lights began flickering, and the shower turned on itself. Soda watched as the water didn't flow down to the tub though, it flew around in the air, like rain that never hit the ground. He felt tears sting his eyes as he wanted to just cry.

As Steve closed his eyes, waiting for the shaking to stop, a sudden burn came upon his arm. "Ouch! What the hell?" he yelled sitting up and grabbed his arm.

"What?" Two-Bit asked, "What's wrong?"

"Something has my arm," Steve said, gripping his arm tight.

"What are you talking about?"

"Something is grabbing my arm!" Steve desperately tried pushing off the invisible force, but couldn't get the squeeze to lighten up. Two-Bit crawled over and pulled Steve away from the spot he was in. "Oh my God, it hurts!"

Soda couldn't take it anymore. "You're finished," he groaned, "You will not do this to us or my brother anymore!" He got back to his feet, grabbed the door handle, and pulled with all his strength. In an instant, the door flew open and Soda charged out of the bathroom, and down the stairs. As he got to the bottom, he saw his friends holding each other. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Two-Bit said, "I think we need to get out of here." He quickly stood up and followed Soda towards the front door when they turned around. "Steve, are you coming?"

Steve just stayed in his spot, staring at his arm.

"What's wrong?" Soda asked, returning to the spot on the floor. Steve slowly angled his arm to show Soda. There was a marking on his arm, a darker brown color, like a burn. Giving it a closer look, it was a hand print around Steve's forearm.

* * *

Darry gripped the cross tight. He used his free hand to grip Pony's arm in an attempt to hold him somewhat still. With his other hand, he placed the cross on Ponyboy's forehead. The young body arched his body and let out a blood-curdling scream. Darry kept his place, and in seconds, Pony's body collapsed back into the bed, completely still. The three greasers were still, holding their breaths, expecting more to happen. Nothing did. Pony's body seemed to relax, his breathing becoming even. Darry shakily placed the cross on the dresser, thinking he would need it again.

"Okay, I think he might be asleep," Darry said. He shook Pony slightly, who let out a heavy breath. Taking the covers, Darry pulled them over his little brother. "Let's go."

"I'll stay with him," Johnny said sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Are you sure? You don't have to," Darry said.

"It's okay. I want to."

"Alright, I'll check in soon," Darry said as him and Dally walked out of the bedroom.

* * *

Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit hurried back to the Curtis house. As they walked in, they saw an empty living room.

"I don't care if this is the devil's new house," Two-Bit commented taking a seat in the armchair, "I'm staying here on this chair."

"No kidding," Steve said as he sat down on the couch.

"Darry?" Soda called out.

"Hey," Darry said as he entered the living room from the laundry, "What were you guys doing?"

"Just on a walk," Soda responded, waiting for a more private time to bring up the exorcism to Darry.

The backdoor opened, and Dally walked into the living room, returning from a smoke. "Hey guys."

"Hi Dally," Two-Bit waved, still keeping his spot on the armchair. Johnny also walked downstairs to see the gang.

"Hey guys. Pony is out like a light."

"That's good," Dally sighed.

"I want to go see him," Soda stood up and went upstairs.

"He does need sleep," Darry called out.

"I just want to check on him," Soda said, "I won't wake him."

"Did you guys have quite a day?" Dally asked noticing Two-Bit and Steve being quiet.

"Just a little," Steve said sarcastically, "Did you?"

"Mhmm," Dally looked down.

The gang heard rustling footsteps as Soda hurried back down, "Where's Ponyboy?"

Before anyone could answer, all the lights flickered off. It was completely dark and everyone was still. Even outside got dark, as clouds suddenly rumbled over the sun. "Darry?" Soda asked with a shaky voice.

"Shh, shh, shh," Darry hushed before anyone else could speak. Everyone stayed exactly where they were for a moment. They all expected the worst to happen. Their ears were sharp, listening for any activity in the house. No one could hear anything upstairs, in the kitchen, or anywhere near them. It was a long few minutes before Darry spoke again. "Okay, I think it's okay. Just an outage."

"From a storm that wasn't even here yet?" Steve asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to go with the fact that nothing is off limits with demons," Dally commented.

"Enough with that guys," Darry said firmly.

A crash was then heard from upstairs. Everyone jumped and was on their feet in no time looking towards the ceiling and stairs. "I'm going to get flashlights," Darry claimed as he headed towards the kitchen. Steve and Soda slowly walked towards the living room window.

"There's power everywhere else," Soda softly said.

"I could have bet on that," Steve added on.

Darry came back with four flashlights, "Okay we have to find Ponyboy."

"Excuse me?" Steve muttered as he watched Soda take a flashlight.

"Don't start with me," Darry barked, "We have to find him. Got it?" Everyone was quietly nodding as each flashlight was slowly turned on. "Soda, you and Two-Bit come upstairs with me. Dal, Steve, and Johnny, you all look down here and outside. I don't care what happens. We have to find Pony and help him. End of story."

Everyone silently agreed.

"Now let's go."

The group separated. Dally and Steve held flashlights while Johnny followed. They began searching the kitchen. They looked under the table and around the cupboards.

"Ponyboy?" Dally called out.

"I doubt he's going to answer," Steve said, "That thing just wants to fuck with us." Steve barely opened the cupboards from fear something would fly out at him. After his experiences at the hospital, the Tasty Freeze, last night, and at Two-Bit's today, he didn't underestimate the powers at all.

Johnny's fear had subsided as he searched every crack in the floor. He was worried about his best friend and adrenaline kept his bravery at it's peak. It was almost more frustrating to him to not find anything, even if it would be dangerous and frightening.

The kitchen turned out empty and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Well, let's check outside," Dally concluded heading for the backdoor.


	18. Chapter 18

Upstairs, Darry, Soda, and Two-Bit had separated to different rooms. Darry took his bedroom, Soda took his, and Two-Bit took the bathroom. Darry flipped the covers around on his bed and looked under. Nothing. Not much else seemed out of the ordinary in his room. He approached his closet and ruffled through his shirts and dirty laundry. Again, nothing.

"Come on Ponyboy," Darry muttered, "Where are you?"

Going around his room more, he continued to call out, "Ponyboy? Come on buddy, come on out. I want to get you out of here and get you some help Pony. Please."

In the bathroom, Two-Bit checked under the sink with caution, but nothing happened. He tried the light switch a few times, but they didn't work. He groaned and peered out the bathroom window. All the neighbor's houses were lit. Even the street lights were lighting up as the storm made the sky dim. He wasn't surprised. It was exactly what he expected. "Of fucking course," he whispered to himself, "Only this house."

He swung the shower curtain open and nearly screamed. He had been so angry at the situation, he hadn't prepared himself to find anything behind the curtain. In the dark, Two-Bit could tell the bathtub was full of water. Flashing his light at it though, he could see the liquid wasn't water. It was a darker color, like dark red almost black. Two-Bit bent over and looked closer. He was scared to say if it was blood for sure.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep swallow, Two-Bit groaned, "I'll regret this. Pony you better be in here to make this worth it."

Reaching down without watching, he put a finger in the liquid and pulled it out fast. It was thicker than just water. Hell, Two-Bit didn't think there was any water at all in the tub. After examining it a little longer, he nearly vomited. It was blood. A tub full of pure blood.

"Oh man," Two-Bit said grabbing a towel and wiping his finger off. He put his flash light on the sink and reached to turn the faucet on. He placed his hand under the faucet, but once the sink turned on, blood poured out and got all over his hand. Immediately, he turned the sink off and began cursing to himself.

Grabbing the towel again, he rubbed the blood off as hard as he could. Pointing the light at his hand, he could still see a slight layer of blood that was dried upon his hand.

"Damnit, seriously?" Two-Bit sat on the toilet to get his act together. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," he repeated over and over, trying to shake it off.

Soda didn't have to do much searching in his bedroom. The bed was empty, like it was when he tried checking on Pony before the power went out. The rest of the room appeared empty too. There was only one spot he hadn't checked, and he wasn't expecting much. It was the closet. Once he opened the closet, he jumped back. There was Ponyboy. His body was crouched in the closet with his face buried in his knees. His shoulders were shaking. He was crying.

"Pony?" Soda asked quietly. He was standing there, not going down to Pony just yet.

"Soda," he whimpered back, not looking up.

"Oh Ponyboy," Soda rushed in, grabbing his little brother, and pulling him into his arms. He dropped his flashlight and held his little brother tight. "Ponyboy, it's going to be okay. I promise."

"Soda," he continued to whimper.

"Yeah it's okay buddy," Soda began to cry too. He continued to hold his brother as he sobbed into his shoulder. He didn't want to let go of Pony. Not the real Pony. "Let's get out of here, okay? Come on, let's go."

"Okay," Pony said as Soda picked him up, getting to his feet.

"Darry! Two-Bit! Somebody!" Soda yelled out, "I got him!"

Darry hurried into the bedroom and took Ponyboy from Soda's arms. "Ponyboy, are you okay?" Pony whimpered softly in response. "Okay, let's go. He needs help."

"He needs spiritual help," Soda said.

"First the hospital."

"Darry, what are they going to do?" Soda argued, "They can't fix this."

"I don't know, but Pony is obviously not well. He's freezing, he's shaking, he's delusional. He needs medical attention right away."

Soda hurried downstairs with Two-Bit. Dally, Steve, and Johnny had returned inside to the relieving news Pony was found.

"Okay, everyone just stay here. No one should be alone right now," Darry said, "I'm taking him to the hospital."

"I'm coming with you," Soda said.

"No you're not. I want everyone to stay here with each other. Just try to get some rest." Soda left it at that, knowing Pony needed to be seen immediately. Darry hurried out of the house and got into the truck. Ponyboy was upset in the passenger seat the whole ride. He cried, moaned, and kept talking about wanting to be better. Darry took deep breaths, knowing he couldn't say anything to fix it, and that was killing him.

At one point during the ride, the steering wheel yanked towards one direction, nearly causing the truck to crash.

"Oh shit!" Darry yelled as he steered back onto the road.

"Darry, what's happening to me?" Pony cried, catching on to the strange happenings linking to him.

"It's okay Pony, it's okay," Darry grabbed Pony's hand and holding on tight, trying to ignore the chill it sent through him.

As he parked the truck at the hospital, Darry picked Pony up in his arms, "Come on buddy."

The receptionist barely had to ask what was wrong, Pony's appearance was enough. Darry didn't realize it at first, but seeing Pony in a lit room made him believe they'd be calling authorities, because Pony was skinny, pale, and bruised. And Darry had no explanation for any of it.

* * *

Back at the house, the remaining greasers were laying around the living room trying to sleep, but they did a lot of shuffling around. They couldn't even keep a lighthearted conversation going. Some of the time they expected something weird to happen. Their anxiety levels were on the rise. The other time they were waiting for the phone to ring or the duo to be back. Either way, the gang was not getting much sleep tonight.

At one point, Steve gave up on sleep and got up to go into the kitchen. He grabbed himself a beer and sat at the kitchen table. Looking out the window, he was oddly relieved to be seeing no clouds. Just the moon and the stars. It was a little calming. Another figure entered the kitchen. It was Soda.

"Can't sleep?" Soda asked.

Steve shook his head in response.

"Me either." Soda walked to the cupboard, grabbed a bag of chips, and sat back down at the table. He began eating them while Steve joined in.

"These taste surprisingly amazing right now," Steve chuckled.

"Yes they do," Soda laughed along. They ate in silence, just the sound of crunching chips, and that was perfectly fine with them.

* * *

At some point throughout the night, each greaser slowly fell asleep. They all needed rest bad, to the point where some sprawled on the couch, a chair, or even the floor without a second thought. At the hospital, Darry was slightly worried no one was answering the phone, but tried telling himself they were all asleep. He didn't want to keep trying if that was the case.

"Darry?" Pony mumbled from the bed. Pony had a few monitors hooked up to him. The doctors were testing heart activity, brain activity, and took blood samples, but weren't sure what more to do, which Darry had suspected would happen.

"What is it buddy?" Darry asked. He was starting to relax whenever Pony talked, now that he could tell the difference between Pony and the other thing's voice and attitude. He was uneasy about the fact he could tell the difference so well, but tried not to think about it too much.

"I just thought of something," Pony said with a hard swallow.

"What's that?"

"What if the doctor's are calling the police? And they find out about mom and dad, and then try to take me away thinking you did this to me?"

Darry looked at the floor. Of course he had thought about that. That scenario ran through his head a million times. Darry couldn't hide that worry from Pony. He knew Pony was too smart for his own good. He couldn't let that fear keep him from getting Pony help either though. He finally sighed, "Maybe they will and maybe they won't. All I can do is tell them the truth and hope they realize the truth. Hopefully they realize it wasn't me or Soda."

Pony nodded, "Am I going to die?"

Darry nearly jumped. It was a very abrupt question. Sure that had run through Darry's head too, but he hadn't realized Pony was thinking about it.

"No Ponyboy. I won't let it. This thing will have to kill me first. He can have me before he has you." Darry was shocked he actually referred to this spiritual thing as a being out loud.

"Don't say that," Pony whimpered slightly, "That doesn't make me feel better.

"I'm serious though. I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening. I will do everything I can to keep him from getting you or Soda or anyone else. Period."

There was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in with the nurse.

"Hello," the nurse greeted with a smile, "I'm just going to check on his vitals again." She walked towards the machines to read the records as the doctor pulled Darry to the side. "Mr. Curtis, do you mind if we talk in the hall?"

"Of course not," Darry gave Pony's shoulder a squeeze and left the room.

"Darry, I'm deeply concerned," the doctor began.

"Me too," Darry firmly stated, "I want to know what's wrong."

The doctor sighed, "Well, his body temperature doesn't just happen for no reason. Something has to cause it. Your temperature doesn't just decide to drop. Also, his blood tests came back surprising. Well, everything came back surprising."

"As in?" Darry asked.

The doctor's mouth open and closed, as if trying to figure out what to say, "To be bluntly honest, he should be dead right now."

"Wh-What?" Darry took a step back.

"I'm baffled Mr. Curtis. I have no idea what is keeping him alive right now, but his body is just...useless."

Darry shook his head, "I'm...I'm not understanding how..."

The doctor scratched his head, "Imagine this. His organs, bodily fluids, blood count, everything is not in working mode right now. Not normally anyway, not like how our organs are working." The doctor sighed, struggling to find an explanation as this was just as baffling to him. "It's almost as if a machine is working his organs to keep him alive. His organs are at a point right now where they shouldn't be able to function on their own as ours do."

"So, you're saying if Pony gets unplugged, he's just...he's gone?"

"Not exactly," the doctor said, "This is the part that I'm struggling to understand. His body has been like this for at least a few days."

"What do you mean?"

"His organs should have been long shut off way before tonight. It's not adding up at all."

"But...no idea what's causing it?" Darry groaned.

"No, unfortunately not. The nurse is going to take a few more samples so we can look at it some more," the doctor said, "But for now, if you have any questions or if any changes need to be noted, just give me a call down."

The nurse walked out of the room as Darry stood in the hall lost.

"Hi Mr. Curtis, did the doctor explain everything?"

Darry nodded, looking to the floor.

The nurse walked closer to Darry and got inches from him as she spoke in a low voice, "I have something to tell you, but we have to talk in private."


	19. Chapter 19

Curious, Darry followed the nurse down the hall towards a more private area. She talked quiet, but she talked fast. Darry had to push past the exhaustion to keep up.

"We had a family with your exact situation," she went on, "You may think this is crazy and unbelievable, but you just have to trust me before it's too late."

* * *

Back at home, Soda didn't begin stirring until it was well in the morning. He was surprised he had slept so long, but also kind of relieved even if he still felt restless. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else awake, so he didn't bother jumping up. He wondered what was going on at the hospital right now. Were they taking tests or did they send Pony to an insane asylum to live in forever? Soda wasn't sure which was more comforting.

The split second the phone rang, Soda moved from his position to answer, "Hello?"

"Hey Soda, it's Darry. How is everyone?"

"Shockingly out," Soda slightly chuckled, "Surprised I fell asleep at all. How's it going there?"

"Well..." Darry sighed, "It's bad. Pony's vitals aren't making any sense, the doctor doesn't understand how he's alive right now. It's...I don't even know, no one does."

"Oh God..." Soda muttered. The lack of knowledge was more terrifying than having any knowledge.

"But then the nurse pulled me aside," Darry rubbed his tired eyes, "And, I don't know it's weird, she said she has seen this before and the family was the same way as us, blaming spirits and demons and shit."

"Really?" Soda asked shocked, "Well what happened?"

"I guess the family took the person to an exorcism. She never heard what happened afterwards, but she thought it would be worth sharing. She even told me that I just had to trust her, no questions asked, before it was too late."

Soda slowly nodded with a gulp, "So...what now?"

"We find someone to perform an exorcism. I know it sounds insane, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to save Ponyboy."

After the phone call, Darry grabbed his keys and wallet to head home. Pony was asleep, so Darry was going to take the chance to make a plan with the gang in private. He quickly washed his hands and splashed water on his face to wake up. He still wasn't sure where to begin on an exorcism, but he was going to have to try and figure it out. It was too dangerous to talk about it in the hospital, Darry got that feeling very clearly the way the nurse spoke to him about it. If it was a chance to save his little brother, he was going to do it, no matter what the cost.

Once he was ready, he took one last look at Pony and felt his heart skip a beat. Pony's eyes were open, and staring right at him. He looked so gaunt and his pupils were large. Darry just stared back, not saying a word. It felt like an eternity before Pony's eyes closed again.

Darry hurried to the house. Soda had woken the gang up to tell them about the exorcism. It was a baffling idea to everyone. As much as they all wanted to jump on the idea so they could be done with this horrible experience, no one had realized how bad off Pony was and how much damage this demon had already done to him. An exorcism could just do more damage. On the other side of it, it could help, but there could be more damage to reverse. It was also going to require a lot of work.

"But if we don't do it, Pony will just die," Soda said, "I think it's obvious that the only option is to go for it. It's the only option to do any possible good for him. Not doing anything will just do worse."

"But who's going to do it?" Dally asked, "How are we going to find anyone who won't think we're insane first?"

"If we find the right person with those types of beliefs, they won't think we're crazy," Soda pointed out.

"Soda's right," Darry responded, "There has got to be a priest or someone who believes in spirits enough to provide an exorcism for us. And if not an exorcism then maybe something."

"Aren't we kind of forgetting something?" Steve spoke up, "I mean, no offense but Pony is practically a vegetable as the doctor apparently put it. I doubt they are going to let us bring a priest into the hospital for an exorcism and if Pony really is that bad off, we can't just take him away from there."

"We could tell the hospital he's going to pray with Pony?" Two-Bit suggested.

"Or even bless the room?" Soda asked.

"No," Darry said shaking his head, "Steve has a point. It's going to be impossible to sneak a priest in for something like that. An exorcism isn't something that takes a few minutes. This could take hours or even days until we can get this thing to leave Pony."

"But Pony will die if we take him off those machines," Soda sighed, trying to push back the tears as he spoke those words.

Darry shook his head again, "No, this thing is feeding off Ponyboy. It needs his body to survive, so it's what is keeping him alive right now. Physically on his own, Pony might be useless, but with this thing inside him, I think we can take him out. If it can't come onto any of us, what can it do?"

"Okay, which brings another point," Steve said, "Sorry for being the outspoken one here, oh fuck it, no I'm not. If we do drive this thing out of Pony, won't he die? If his body is only up and running, because of the demon, what happens if we drive it out?"

The room was silent about that one. No one knew how to respond to that. Was it true though? Was Pony failed to survive no matter what they did?

Darry sighed, "I still think we have to try. Like Soda said, not doing anything will make it worse. If we can at least try and have that ounce of a chance of Pony surviving, I say we need to try. Maybe the priest has an answer to that question if they have experience with this."

"I agree," Soda said, "We just got to get Pony out of the hospital."

* * *

The gang decided to split up. Darry was going to take Soda and Two-Bit to find a priest while Dally, Johnny, and Steve were going to get Pony out of the hospital. Those three weren't exactly thrilled with the mission they were assigned.

"Why does Two-Bit get to stay away from the hospital?" Dally asked.

"Because he has a second car to help find a priest with me," Darry said.

"So do I," Steve protested.

"You'll get Pony out of the hospital fine," Darry said, "Now enough."

"Fine, fine," Dally and Steve both muttered, knowing they were stuck with it.

"Meet back here as soon as possible," Darry said as everyone hopped in cars.

* * *

"Okay boys, this can't be too difficult," Dally stated as they pulled up to the hospital in Steve's car, "Just get him dressed and leave right?"

"I hope that's all it takes," Steve replied, "Can you go to jail for this? Like is it considered kidnapping?"

Dally shrugged, "Not like Pony can't vouch for us."

"Let's just go in and go out as casually as we can," Johnny stated, "Nothing weird and they won't suspect anything. Just hope we don't run into Pony's doctor either."

The three boys exited the car and entered the hospital. They found Ponyboy awake, but he didn't speak to them. He looked very out of it. They unhooked different monitors and wires, expecting the machines to go off, but they appeared to have died once they weren't attached. It sent chills through the greasers, because they knew it was what the demon wanted, to get out of the hospital. They tried to ignore it and continue on. The moment the last item was removed, Pony swung off the bed and began getting dressed. He still hadn't said a word. Once he was done, the greasers began walking down the hall. Steve and Johnny kept a hand on Pony while Dally lead the way. They had to pass the desk to get to the elevator for an exit. They all hoped the clerk didn't know who was checked in or not. Hopefully she only assumed you were checked in if you wore a hospital gown.

"Just walk on, don't even look at her," Dally whispered as they continued on. Pony still hadn't spoken a word. His skin was ice cold to Steve's and Johnny's hands. That made the boys uneasy. They knew the demon was taking over, and he was only cooperating to get out of the hospital and do whatever he wanted to do.

Passing the desk, none of the boys made eye contact or conversation. It seemed to have been working until the clerk spoke up. "Um, excuse me boys? This young man is in very critical condition. He needs to get back on those machines right away."

Before the boys could respond, Pony just threw his head in the clerk's direction. He had a cold stare on her and she couldn't respond.

"Um, what's going on?" Johnny asked. Neither of the greasers knew what to say. Pony and the clerk had a long stare down. Steve looked around and no one else was around. The clerk's face expression slowly went from authority figure to shocked. No one knew what she was seeing to look so scared. After what seemed to be a long stare down, the clerk fell to the floor.

"Oh shit," Steve mumbled.

Pony chuckled, or his voice chuckled anyway, "It's incredible how strong power can get isn't it?" Steve and Johnny let go of him immediately, all of them terrified at the raspy and deep voice. "Well what are you waiting for?" the voice continued, "Let's get going and watch your plan fail."

Pony began walking towards the elevator. None of the boys wanted to follow, but with their mouths hanging open, slowly began taking steps. They got back to Steve's car. Johnny easily got in the backseat with Pony, clearly more worried about his best friend than being scared of the demon.

"Well, let's get back," Steve said, terrified to drive as he only imagined what could happen on the way back.

When they were about halfway back to the Curtis house, Steve felt the wheel become stiff. "No," he whispered. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the smile come across Pony's face. "No," he gasped as the wheel took a sudden turn.

"Oh my God!" Dally screamed out. Johnny grabbed the seat and let out a loud yell of terror. Steve tried to turn the wheel back, but it wouldn't budge. Right before they were going to run into a tree, the wheel turned sharp again and the car went the other direction.

"Hit the brakes!" Johnny yelled.

"It won't go down!" Steve yelled. He pushed with all his might, but couldn't get anything to move. They went on screaming while Pony sat still, grinning.

Again, right before a major crash could occur, the wheel turned again. This time, the car braked hard. Steve and Dally flew forward, hitting the steering wheel and dashboard.

"Shit," Dally muttered grabbing his head.

Steve could only shake. He looked behind him and saw Pony just glancing out his window, as if nothing happened. "I...I can't do this," Steve slowly said.

"Hey come on man," Dally put a hand on Steve's shoulder, "I know we're all scared, but...it's okay. Let's just get back."

Steve looked at Dally with horror in his eyes. The memory of what happened at the hospital bathroom was haunting him.

"Steve," Dally leaned in and barely spoke above a whisper, "Listen to me, if this thing wanted to kill us, it would have. Just drive, okay? It can't feed off our fear, remember?"

Pulling himself together as best he could, Steve grabbed the steering wheel, and began driving.

* * *

It seemed to be a long search, but Darry, Soda, and Two-Bit believe they found someone. His name was Todd Hunt, and he didn't live too far from the Curtis neighborhood. He didn't react to their story, not in an unbelievable way, so Darry knew they had a start with that.

Darry and Soda were sitting in his office at the church trying to figure out a next step.

"Now, the best place to perform this task would be at the home. That's where this demon developed, and that's where we need to take it out. Believe it or not, the house is his strongest point, but also his weakest. We take down what the demon sees as his development point and we gain some sort of power over it, and any type of power we can get will help," Todd explained.

"Okay," Darry said, "When?"

"Well, from what you're saying, as weak as your brother seems by now, we should do it as soon as possible. Any more waiting could only mean more and more damage. If it's alright with you, I can get things prepared and be there tonight."

"Yes absolutely," Soda said.

"Now let me ask you this," Darry began as he shuffled around uneasily, "What is this...demon's...goal here? I mean what does it want from Ponyboy?"

"Hard to say," Todd admitted, "But that is something we need to find out straight from the demon. And then use it against him."


	20. Chapter 20

It was time. The gang was scared, but desperate to get this over with. They were finally going to get this demon out of their lives and hopefully save Ponyboy. All they could do was hope it worked. Darry and Soda both knew they were at their final option, and it still wasn't a guarantee to fix everything.

Everyone was back at the Curtis house. When Ponyboy had arrived home, he had gone to bed upstairs to sleep. Johnny, Dally, and Steve couldn't get out of their heads what they witnessed at the hospital. They were very thankful the demon just stayed upstairs, even if it was just waiting to cause chaos when the priest arrived. Darry, Soda, and Two-Bit returned.

"Where's Pony?" Darry asked.

"Upstairs," Dally answered, "Did you guys find someone?"

"Yes," Soda said, "So, he'll be here soon to start everything..."

"So, is it going to work?" Johnny asked.

"We don't know," Darry shrugged, "All we can do is try."

Todd had arrived with his Bible, a cross, and holy water. "We need a chair," Todd said softly. Darry went and brought a kitchen chair into the middle of the living room while Soda and Steve moved the coffee table. "Good, so we have a couple of options." Before Todd could continue, everyone heard a loud thud from upstairs. "It knows I'm here," Todd simply said, "It's going to try and scare me away."

When Soda was about to rush upstairs to help Pony, Todd stopped him. "Don't give it attention."

"But..."

"Soda," Darry interrupted, "I know it's hard and we're all worried about him, but just listen to Todd, alright?"

Soda slowly sat on the couch, bringing his hand up to his mouth to bite his nails.

"What should we do for now?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing yet," Todd said, "The best thing we can do towards anything right now is not react. We have to ignore it as best as possible."

"Easy peasy," Steve commented sarcastically.

"So here's what we need to do," Todd went on, "Ponyboy will have to sit in this chair. We need to keep him held down." Soda gulped as he remembered how Pony had easily taken him down without breaking a sweat. "If needed, we can also tie his wrists and ankles to the chair. It's going to take strength.

The first thing Todd did was take his cross and holy water and began blessing the house. He walked around each corner and said a small prayer with the cross held high. The thuds and yells upstairs became louder. Steve sat next to Soda and put an arm around him, keeping him from running upstairs.

"Pony could be so scared," Soda whispered.

"It's not Pony," Steve soothed, "You have to remember that. It's not him."

After Todd went around blessing the house, he asked for Ponyboy to be brought downstairs. The thuds stopped for a moment and a loud roar thundered throughout the house. Everyone tried following Todd's instructions to ignore it. Soda was shaking and near tears. Johnny took it upon himself to join Soda and Steve on the couch, also on edge to go upstairs for his best friend.

Darry and Dally went upstairs, grabbed Pony and lead him downstairs. Pony's body was thrashing about, trying to fight back and get out of their grip.

"Let me go!" the deep voice yelled, nearly knocking Darry and Dally down the stairs. "You can't win! He's mine!"

Steve and Soda hurried over and helped, and it took all the strength of the four to get Pony to the chair. They all held on tight.

"This won't be easy," Steve said.

Todd picked up the holy water and splashed some on Pony, causing him to yell and fight back. "We have to take dominance right away," Todd said. He grabbed his cross and handed it to Johnny. "I want you to hold this up while I speak, alright?"

Johnny slowly nodded as he stood next to Todd. He was terrified, expecting Pony's body to jump at him.

Darry had one arm down, Soda had the other one, Two-Bit held one leg down while Steve held the other one. Dally stood close, ready to help anyone who lost their grip, or to take over whoever got tired first. Todd couldn't help but be thankful there were plenty of people to help with this.

Once the demon sat somewhat still, Todd began rehearsing verses and hymns. Pony reacted immediately. He tried to jump from the chair and lunge at Todd, but the greasers held him down. It wasn't easy, but they managed to keep him away. Johnny flinched every now and then, but kept the cross as high as he could, begging for it to be having some affect.

To the gang, the words just kept angering the demon. They wanted to believe it was effecting the demon, but it was hard to tell.

"Dal, we may need another pair of arms," Darry commented, "Grab his shoulders."

"He only seems to be getting stronger," Soda said nearly out of breath. Dally walked over and grabbed Pony's shoulders, attempting to force him down. In an instant, Pony jumped up and everyone fell back. He stood on the chair, looking down at the greasers. Todd grabbed the cross from Johnny and touched Pony's leg with it, causing his body to crash down back on the chair.

"Grab him now!" Todd said placing his Bible down, "Let's find some rope or something."

"Johnny go look in the garage," Darry said as everyone grabbed Pony.

As Pony's body slowly began moving again, Johnny ran outside. Even though it was nighttime, he felt on edge with it being dark outside. He entered the garage and looked around desperately. There was tools all over the place, boxes, and other junk. Johnny rummaged through it all, tossing things around and cursing when he couldn't find anything.

"Come on, come on," Johnny said during his search, "You can't tell me the one thing this family doesn't have is rope." Finally, shoved away in a corner was piles of rope. He grabbed it and began hurrying out, just for the doors to slam shut.

"Shit," Johnny muttered in the dark. He grabbed the knob and attempted to push the door, but as he expected, it didn't move. "Figures." Johnny knew he had to think fast. He couldn't wait for anyone to notice he was trapped. If they all left to help him, Pony could get away. He had to figure this out on his own.

He spun in a circle to try and find something, even though it was pitch black in the garage. He decided he'd have to take desperate measures. He walked over to the window. He bumped into plenty of things along the way. Once he got to the window, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around his fist before throwing a punch.

The gang looked up as Johnny came through the front door. He quickly tossed the rope to Todd, not saying anything about the broken window.

"Johnny, come hold him," Darry said. Darry and Johnny switched places as Darry helped Todd. He tried pushing it out of his mind that it was his little brother they were tying down.

While Darry tried getting one wrist, Pony pulled his arm up and swiped down at Darry's arm, leaving a deep scratch.

"Hurry, just keep going," Todd instructed.

The gang stood up as Pony was tied down. He didn't do anything. He just looked up at Todd, his pale face and sunken eyes not moving. Todd handed the cross to Darry and continued speaking. This time Pony barely moved. Soda kept his eye on him, and felt his skin crawl when a creepy smile came across his face.

"Please just leave," Soda whispered, "Leave him alone."

Todd put his Bible down and grabbed the holy water. The smile on Pony's face instantly disappeared.

"Don't try it," the demon voice growled.

As Todd got ready to spray some of the holy water, everyone heard a creak. Looking down, everyone saw the chair shaking across the floor.

"What the..." Darry muttered as the chair began slightly rising.

"No, no..." Steve said.

"Pony," Soda's hand slammed over his mouth in disbelief. There was a little space between the floor and chair legs, but it was noticeable. Time seemed to be frozen. No one could speak or move. Was anyone's heart even beating?

After a solid minute, the chair went back down. Immediately, Todd flung the holy water onto the body. Pony screamed at the top of his lungs. It was an ear-piercing sound as it caused everyone to cover their ears. Ponyboy made fists and pulled upward, making the rope become weak. Todd began yelling prayers and flinging more holy water onto Pony.

He slid his wrists and ankles from the rope and stood up. Darry was ready to jump into action, but Todd didn't tell anyone to do anything. He grabbed the cross from Two-Bit as Pony began slowly walking towards him. No one knew what to expect. They all jumped as Todd took his own steps towards Ponyboy. He put the cross up and touched it to Pony's forehead.

The demon let out one long, loud roar at the touch. The entire room seemed to begin shaking as items fell off shelves and even flew across the room. The gang had to keep an eye on things and duck from getting hit. Todd did it one more time. He walked right up to Pony and placed the cross against his forehead.

Ponyboy's body completely collapsed. He fell right onto the floor and everything in the room went still.

"Oh my God," Soda cried running over, "Pony?" He dropped to the floor and grabbed his little brother's shoulders. Todd didn't say anything, so everyone wondered if that meant it was over. Darry quickly joined Soda on the floor.

"Pony?" Darry placed a hand on his cheek, "Oh my God, he's warm." He felt confident with that, but his little brother wasn't moving at all.

Soda jumped up and began pacing, tears falling down his face. "Please wake up. Please oh God don't do this."

Steve hurried over to his best friend and held him in his arms. "It's okay Soda. Just give him a minute."

Todd bent his head down and began saying a prayer.

"Ponyboy?" Darry slightly shook the body, "Please wake up buddy. Come on. You're okay now. You've got to be okay now."

"He's not waking up," Soda gasped.

Steve held onto Soda tight, "Shhh, just hold on buddy. Don't give up on him."

"Why isn't he waking up?" Dally demanded an answer from Todd, but he continued to pray.

"Dally please don't," Johnny grabbed his hand, holding on tight.

Two-Bit watched everyone around him panic. The only one who wasn't panicking was Todd, so he decided to follow along. He walked over and got on the floor with Darry. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he just grabbed Pony's hand. He bent his head and closed his eyes, trying to focus on the prayer Todd was saying. Darry noticed what he was doing, and stopped shaking Pony's body. He grabbed Pony's other hand and did the same as Two-Bit.

Steve grabbed Soda's hands and motioned towards the boys on the floor. "Just focus," Steve whispered to Soda. They held each other's hands and closed their eyes, staying silent. Dally and Johnny began doing the same, and soon all anyone could hear was Todd's words. He never stopped speaking as everyone waited for Pony to respond.

It felt like an eternity before Darry felt his hand get squeezed. His eyes flew open and he saw color slowly returning to Pony's face.

"Ponyboy?" Darry asked. Everyone else looked down and watched. Finally, Pony took a deep breath and his eyes flew open.

"Ponyboy!" Soda jumped down and pulled his little brother into a hug.

"Soda slow down," Darry said, "Pony? Are you okay?"

Pony turned and looked at everyone, "I...feel so much better."

"Oh buddy," Soda hugged him tight.

"Is everything okay now?" Pony asked as he looked at Darry.

"Yes," Darry smiled, "Everything is better now."

* * *

It took a few days for Pony to regain his strength. He mostly stayed in bed and tried to eat whenever he could. Darry and Soda constantly checked his temperature to make sure he was still at normal temperature. No one in the gang was experiencing anything paranormal, but they were always checking their backs when trying to accomplish normal activities.

Darry felt relief when he saw Pony up and walking again, entering the kitchen one morning for breakfast.

"Hey buddy, feeling better?" Darry asked.

"Feeling stronger," Pony replied sitting at the table, "Things got really bad huh?"

"Yes they did. You don't remember much do you?"

"Not really," Pony shook his head, "Which makes it even scarier. I'm scared to know what I did to you guys."

Darry squeezed Pony's hand, "You didn't do anything. It was that spirit. It doesn't matter anyway. It's done and out of our lives."

Pony let out a weak smile, "Thanks for not giving up."

"Of course I wasn't going to give up. The gang sticks together through everything. No matter what."

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
